Sabra Lane: When Federal Parliament returns next week, it’s expected the Government will again tackle the issue of online gambling ads and whether they should be banned. And while we have fresh information to consider, new polling shows an overwhelming majority of Australians favour a total ban on online ads. The Albanese Government is under pressure from its own backbench for drafting a policy that goes against the recommendations of its own inquiry into gambling harms. Isobel Roe reports.
Gambling ad: Place a bet on the first goalscorer market this Saturday on Bombers vs Magpies or Powerbirds.
Isobel Roe: Ads like these for online betting companies are part and parcel of watching sport on TV or streaming games on a phone. But political research organisation Redbridge Group believes most Australians want ads like these gone from TV and online.
Kos Samaras: About 72% of all Australians that we surveyed want it banned.
Isobel Roe: Kos Samaras from Redbridge Group is releasing new polling today which asked more than 1600 people whether they’d support banning gambling advertising online. 33% say they’d support it, 39% gave it strong support. And he says the sentiment is the same no matter the political leaning. Coalition voters are least likely to support a ban on the ads, but still 65% say they support it.
Kos Samaras: It’s on every single political spectrum, so whether you’re a coalition voter, whether you’re a Labor voter, Green voter, whether you vote for minor parties.
Isobel Roe: The issue doesn’t seem to be as clear cut for the Albanese Government, which is currently working on its gambling reforms. It’s understood Labor’s plans include a partial ban on gambling ads for traditional broadcast media, limiting them to two spots per hour, banning them during games and limiting them during other programming aimed at children. It may also include banning gambling ads online and on social media. But a growing number of Labor backbenchers have publicly called for more, most recently the member for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale, who posted on Facebook that he supports the strongest reforms possible. As a former Labor strategist, Kos Samaras is puzzled.
Kos Samaras: The Federal Government sitting on the fence just sends another signal that they really are not in line and in step with the Australian public sentiment on this.
Isobel Roe: The Government is yet to publicly announce its policy, more than a year after a parliamentary inquiry recommended a total ban on gambling ads, both in broadcast and online. The inquiry had rare bipartisan support, and one of its Liberal members, Hughes MP Jenny Ware, has joined calls to enact its findings.
Jenny Ware: I feel very invested in this and I’ll certainly continue to be so until the Government actually produces legislation that reflects the views of the committee.
Isobel Roe: The Government has previously said it needs to balance harm reduction with the income generated for TV stations. In a statement, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says work is underway on the reforms, and says she must get this right to deliver both harm reduction and cultural change.
Sabra Lane: Isobel Roe reporting there.