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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is challenging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to support his call for a ban on gambling commercials an hour before and after sports matches, foreshadowing a phasing out of all sports betting advertising, similar to ads for tobacco products.
Dutton said outgoing AFL chief Gillon McLachlan and NRL boss Andrew Abdo have a moral obligation to wean themselves off gambling revenue, adding it would be hypocritical to ignore the impact of sports betting on families while advancing social issues such as the Voice to parliament.
Peter Dutton has rejected arguments from major codes that say hundreds of millions of dollars of gambling advertising revenue could not be replaced and would cripple grassroots sport.Credit: Getty
Big gaming firms such as Sportsbet, bet365 and Betfair, through their lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, attacked Dutton’s policy push which was aired in his budget reply speech on Thursday night. They said the call for a ban “misses the mark” and was executed without consultation.
The opposition leader, however, refused to be cowed by the criticism in an interview following his speech.
“Culturally, we’ve got ourselves into a position where kids have been exposed to gambling in the same way young kids are quickly hooked on cigarettes … and I don’t like it,” Dutton said, adding it was one of the top issues raised with him by voters.
“The prime minister will be worried about the reaction from advertisers and from the sports and from the gambling companies, but it’s time for the government to show leadership and we’d be happy for them to take up this policy.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for a ban on gambling ads one hour before and after sports matches.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Asked about the proposal, the prime minister did not rule out supporting the measure, noting that there was a parliamentary inquiry into gambling under way.
Albanese said Labor had already banned the use of credit cards to gamble and replaced the “gamble responsibly” taglines on commercials warning people about gambling risks.
“Pity that Peter Dutton was never in a position to do anything over the last decade. It really is,” Albanese said.
Anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello said he sensed the announcement represented a breakthrough, underpinned by growing community sentiment and the Labor-run parliamentary inquiry examining the issue.
‘I don’t want to sit there talking with my teenage boys about multis and … who’s going to score the first try.’
“It took 20 years for tobacco to break through. It’s been a very similar timeline and pendulum swing [for gambling],” he said. “I think there is a chance of bipartisanship now.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud supports a tobacco-style blanket ban on any gambling advertising. When asked about this position, Dutton said he would be “surprised if we don’t end up at that point, at some stage, but similar to the tobacco and alcohol debates over years”.
“I think some of the companies have just pushed it to an extreme and the repetitiveness of the ads, the invasiveness into what’s supposed to be an enjoyable part of your part of your week,” he said.
The Coalition leader rejected the major sporting codes’ argument that hundreds of millions of dollars of gambling advertising revenue could not be replaced and would cripple grassroots sport.
“I think having a tin ear to that or not listening to what’s a very significant ethical issue in our society would be hypocritical given some of the stances that they’ve taken on other social issues … such as the Voice,” Dutton said.
“I’ve got teenage boys and I don’t mind a punt myself. I’ve got a betting account and I have a bet sensibly. But I don’t want to sit there talking with my teenage boys about multis and … who’s going to score the first try.”
“I want to have a normal conversation like I used to have with my dad watching footy about the players and their form and their chances and other elements of the game.”
An NRL spokesman said it supported the parliamentary inquiry coming up with solutions and the AFL declined to comment.
Independent MPs Allegra Spender, Zoe Daniel and Andrew Wilkie backed Dutton’s call, and Daniel, one of the most vocal anti-gambling MPs in Canberra, hopes to speak with Dutton about the policy.
“I am pleased that at long last the leader of one of our major parties sees gambling advertising for what it is; a scourge normalising betting as integral to sport, grooming young minds,” she said.
Under current rules, gambling ads must stop five minutes before a sports match, except after 8.30pm when they are permitted. But gambling companies are still permitted to have company representatives – often well-known past players – spruik odds within matches.
Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman, who led the development of the opposition policy, confirmed their proposed ban would capture the spruiking of odds by presenters within matches, which he labelled one of the most objectionable elements of in-game promotion.
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