{"id":389025,"date":"2026-04-13T00:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/389025\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T00:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:38:17","slug":"albanese-on-gambling-youve-got-to-treat-people-like-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/389025\/","title":{"rendered":"Albanese on gambling: \u2018You\u2019ve got to treat people like adults\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prime minister wants Australians to know that his is a government ready to take action on the harms of gambling addiction \u2013 but good reform takes time and a total ban isn\u2019t the solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terrible if people get addicted to gambling,\u201d Anthony Albanese tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cThe solutions aren\u2019t always just to ban things. So it\u2019s about just getting it right, and I think we\u2019ve got it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview after announcing plans to partially restrict gambling advertising, Albanese says: \u201cThere\u2019s criticism from both sides of the debate, but I think Australians overwhelmingly want to watch the footy. Some people don\u2019t want to see any advertising at all. This will provide them with the opportunity to do so with opt-out, all of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those people who want to know what the odds are \u2013 in part, for their footy tipping or what have you \u2013 then they\u2019re able to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019ve got to treat people like adults as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he protects the right of people to \u201chave a punt\u201d, adding that \u201cover half of problem gambling issues are about pokies \u2013 and none of this was ever about pokies\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is the extent of advertising. I think that annoyed people,\u201d the prime minister says. \u201cAnd how do you break a nexus, which is there over a period of time, developed between sport and gambling?\u201d<\/p>\n

Labor\u2019s plan has underwhelmed reformers, who also say it is too lenient on the sporting codes, media organisations and the gambling industry \u2013 what veteran social justice campaigner Tim Costello calls the \u201cthree big gorillas\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to actually meet this crisis head-on,\u201d Costello tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cThe crisis is the greatest gambling harm in the world, the greatest gambling losses in the world, and timid half measures [are] a good start, but they will not protect kids in the next generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the full Murphy ban and a\u00a0regulator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rejecting accusations that lobbying and donations slowed progress on the reforms, Albanese says gambling reform is a \u201ccomplex issue\u201d and was always a matter of \u201chaving the time and the space\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter BetStop and all the other things we\u2019ve done \u2013 credit card banning, everything we did in the first term \u2013 this adds to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albanese says the long-awaited plans to curtail gambling TV, radio and online ads and ban online Keno \u2013 which were announced in the back half of a National Press Club speech last week \u2013 were ready and slated to be announced at the start of the year but were shelved due to the Bondi terror attack in\u00a0December.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of things got put off \u2013 my National Press Club speech was going to be in January \u2013 \u2026 because of December 14 and because of circumstances,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to consult properly, get it right, and do it in a way that didn\u2019t have this big cost to the budget. I think that we got it right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always planning for more reform this term. As I said in the speech, we did the most reform ever last term, and now we\u2019ve taken it another step further this term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crossbench sources say the spur to action is damage control by a prime minister facing Labor\u2019s national conference in July, because \u201che knows \u2018gas, gambling and Gaza\u2019 are going to be the three things that he\u2019s going to get hammered on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Labor sources dismiss this accusation, saying it discounts the \u201cuntouchable\u201d authority of a prime minister with 94 seats in parliament \u2013 a massive majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ad ban, I think, is a piecemeal approach that all the evidence says is not going to work. We\u2019re seeing this incrementalism in so many parts of how this government is approaching difficult issues, and I think the community is sick of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albanese sums up his meetings with Costello and others, including Labor caucus members, \u201cwho had views \u2013 people came from different perspectives\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Saturday Paper understands a dedicated group of caucus members felt strongly about tackling problem gambling and had been working on change internally. Albanese\u2019s unexpected offering of \u201cfurther reforms\u201d in \u201ckey priority areas\u201d in an answer to a crossbench question in Question Time on March 25 signalled a plan was finally close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was like, \u2018Hello!\u2019, this is movement,\u201d Labor MP Jerome Laxale tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cI\u2019ve listened intently to the answers on gambling for the last four years, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Other caucus members, such as the member for Macnamara, Josh Burns, say they have been satisfied the plan protects young people.<\/p>\n

In the wider labour movement, the head of Unions NSW, Mark Morey, led the pressure group Labor for Gambling Reform. \u201cIt\u2019s such a constant stream of revenue for everybody,\u201d Morey says. \u201cThe one thing that no one says is \u2018where\u2019s that money coming from?\u2019 And it\u2019s not coming from millionaires. It\u2019s coming from working people and people who can\u2019t afford to gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The total gambling drain in Australia was last estimated in 2022-23 by the Australian\u00a0Institute of Health and Welfare to be $31.5\u00a0billion annually \u2013 about $1527 per person \u2013 and is expected to be more now as \u201ctotal gambling expenditure has generally continued to increase over time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Where that gambling industry money is going, in part, is to political parties. Australian Electoral Commission data for the last financial year shows more than $3 million in donations. Both Labor and the Coalition accepted significant donations from the online betting giants Tabcorp and Sportsbet.<\/p>\n

Communications Minister Anika Wells acknowledges to The Saturday Paper that \u201cpressure was brought to bear from all sides\u201d and that the process has meant navigating \u201cdiabolically\u201d divergent views. She also pointed to the leaks that thwarted the \u201cfriendless\u201d work on gambling last term under her predecessor in the portfolio, Michelle Rowland.<\/p>\n

Wells has served for four years as minister for sport, building relationships with powerful sports industry figures such as Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V\u2019landys and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon.<\/p>\n

Under Labor\u2019s proposal, gambling advertising will be banned during live sports broadcasts and capped at three an hour between 6am and 8.30pm. There will be no radio ads during school drop-off and pick-up times. To see an online gambling advertisement, the user must be 18 and not already opted out of seeing such advertisements. Gambling ads on player uniforms and around stadiums such as venue perimeter boards will be banned, as will ads featuring celebrities and sports stars.<\/p>\n

Independent MP Kate Chaney was part of the Murphy-led committee that sought to address gambling harms. She regards Labor\u2019s offering as \u201cincremental\u201d and says it must be improved as it passes through parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ad ban, I think, is a piecemeal approach that all the evidence says is not going to work,\u201d she tells The Saturday Paper, referring to the manual \u201copt-out\u201d element, which she says does not treat gambling as a\u00a0public health issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing this incrementalism in so many parts of how this government is approaching difficult issues and I think the community is sick of it. You can\u2019t always be about compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss of the central Labor figure Peta Murphy to cancer in late 2023 was a blow to the party, and added impetus to the anti-gambling campaign. That the popular MP\u2019s legacy has been used to criticise a Labor government has been a source of intense frustration, says Wells.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is white-hot anger in the government about these politicians that would never have spent an hour alone with Peta, who then self-selected as the moral arbiter of her legacy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The domestic gambling industry, represented by Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) and including Tabcorp and Sportsbet, is seeking details from the minister, saying it had been cut out of the latest consultations.<\/p>\n

Wells did not meet directly with the gambling bodies, leaving those interactions to staff and department officials, building on the exhaustive original work of the parliamentary committee.<\/p>\n

Some moves were draconian, said RWA. Others had never been considered before federally, such as the stadium and jersey bans.<\/p>\n

They are looking for some negotiation ahead of the full reform package, which will be tabled when parliament returns for the May budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t need to agree with us, but we expect that we will be consulted so we can at least hopefully inform some policy settings and ensure these measures can actually be implemented,\u201d RWA chief executive Kai Cantwell tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I say the details now are going to be critical, and the timing moving forward, because we\u2019re working towards, by the sounds of things, a January\u00a01 implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the industry has responded to community outrage, voluntarily reducing its advertising spend on free-to-air television by 71 per cent over the past five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge there has been too much advertising in the past, and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve not been opposed to making these kinds of reforms,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The Australian Communications and Media Authority estimated that the gambling industry spent more than $160 million on free-to-air television advertising in the 2022\/23 financial year.<\/p>\n

The Seven Network is among the media companies eyeing compensation for lost revenue. \u201cWe anticipate the government will introduce appropriate mitigation measures that address any loss of revenue and implementation costs of the proposed reforms,\u201d a Seven spokesperson tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n

The NRL is negotiating the rights for a new broadcast deal which, before the gambling reforms were announced, was expected to exceed $4 billion.<\/p>\n

Albanese isn\u2019t committing to compensation. \u201cWe\u2019re thinking about implementing a policy and with notice for people, so that they can have planning,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He expects the media companies and sporting codes will find other sources of revenue, as \u201cthere\u2019s lots of opportunities out there. There\u2019s lots of time for that to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attention now shifts to how the reforms will progress through parliament, as Labor does not have a majority in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Both the Greens and the Coalition have indicated support for gambling reform. The latter, under Peter Dutton, came out first three years ago for an ad blackout one hour before, during and one hour after live sport.<\/p>\n

That proposal was stronger than where Labor has now landed.<\/p>\n

Labor has noted a preference to work with the Coalition as a party of government, though some insiders favour a deal with the Greens given the opposition\u2019s divisions.<\/p>\n

Like the contentious environmental law reform that passed last year with Greens support, all options are on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve reverted back to aged care a lot with this \u2013 you want parties of government to agree on this so that it sticks,\u201d Wells says, pointing to her role last term in leading reforms as minister for aged care.<\/p>\n

The Greens regard the gambling industry as \u201cvultures\u201d and want a complete ban on gambling advertisements and other protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s arguing for it to be weakened, so it\u2019ll either pass as is or have a few amendments on the way through,\u201d says Jerome Laxale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s progress, and this is the constant battle for progressives, right? You have got to take every win you can, because they\u2019re hard fought for.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Nation\u2019s position on the government\u2019s reforms is still unclear, but the party has taken on gambling interests before.<\/p>\n

In 2017, One Nation joined a newsagent industry campaign against Gibraltar-based Lottoland, an online platform for betting on overseas lottery draws. A year later, it was banned by the Turnbull government.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor One Nation, this is their core business,\u201d Tim Costello tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cSportsbet, registered in Ireland \u2013 it\u2019s called Flutter \u2013 it\u2019s the biggest. It takes $2.2\u00a0billion out of Australia without one shop or outlet. Its CEO is paid over $6 million a year. A foreign multinational, grooming our kids and acting in a predatory way to Australian citizens. One Nation should support a complete ban.\u201d<\/p>\n

A One Nation spokesperson tells The Saturday Paper the party is waiting to see the details of the proposed reforms.<\/p>\n

Mark Morey says a bipartisan approach will be critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it is across all voters, no matter what political persuasion, who support these reforms, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s any different from the Liberal Party to the Greens to Labor and even talking to some people in One Nation, I don\u2019t think it will be hard to get a consensus position on this,\u201d the senior union figure says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the only way you\u2019re going to get it through, and that\u2019s the only way you\u2019re going to stare down the media companies and the gambling companies \u2013 if there\u2019s a united front on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n April 11, 2026 as “Albanese on gambling: \u2018You\u2019ve got to treat people like adults\u2019”.<\/p>\n

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