13 August 2024

Former PMs and premiers back ban on gambling advertising

| Oliver Jacques
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John Howard in a library

John Howard says he’s disturbed by gambling ads on TV. Photo: Lake Mac Libraries.

Former Liberal Party prime minister and staunch conservative John Howard is more progressive than the Labor Party on gambling advertising, according to advocates for reform.

Mr Howard was among 74 prominent Australians who recently signed an open letter calling for a ban on all gambling advertising within three years.

Meanwhile, the federal Labor government has been criticised for its slow pace of reform and its unwillingness to commit to a total gambling advertising prohibition.

The federal government asked interest groups to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) during a recent briefing with them about their proposed gambling advertising reforms, which required the groups to keep all details confidential.

READ ALSO Albanese Government should punt all gambling ads

Reverend Tim Costello of the Alliance for Gambling Reform was among those who refused to sign.

“Labor are terrified of vested interests, particularly of Kerry Stokes and the Seven West Network [which he owns], which pays for the AFL through gambling ads,” he said.

“John Howard is certainly to the left of Labor on this issue … Howard showed leadership on guns; that’s why we’re not a gun country like the US. Albo [Prime Minister Albanese] has to show some backbone on gambling too.”

The open letter was also signed by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, as well as several former state premiers and a number of Green and independent members of federal and state parliaments. No current Labor or Liberal MP signed the letter

“As an unapologetic sports fan, I am troubled by how advertising is now linked with all our major sporting codes and what message this is sending to our children,” Mr Howard said.

ACT Greens leader and Minister for Gaming Shane Rattenbury backed calls for a complete gambling advertising ban.

“The Federal Government needs to do the responsible thing and ban all gambling advertising, just as [a recent] Parliamentary inquiry unanimously recommended. Gambling advertising is pervasive and damaging. It attempts to perpetuate and normalise the gambling harm that damages the community, and it has a particularly harmful impact on children, young people, and people who are susceptible to addiction. The Australian community wants to see action on this issue,” he said.

“Commonwealth laws prevent us in the ACT from enacting comprehensive gambling advertising bans, so it is up to the federal government to lead the way. We are currently considering and consulting on steps we can take in the ACT, but it would be far preferable to see a comprehensive response from the Commonwealth Government.

“The Federal Labor Government’s reticence to take strong action on gambling only reinforces the perception that the Labor Party, with its longstanding connection to poker machine revenue, is ineffective and compromised when it comes to addressing gambling harm.”

Man speaking into microphone

Shane Rattenbury MLA has backed calls for a federal government gambling ban. Photo: Michelle Kroll.

Television advertising is regulated by the federal government in Australia. However, it is possible for a state or territory to restrict advertising content within its jurisdiction. For example, the South Australian Government has banned gambling ads in its state between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm on weeknights.

At the ACT level, Mr Rattenbury is currently seeking community feedback on two proposals to ban gambling ads from radio and TV at certain times.

READ MORE ACT Greens leader seeks feedback on banning prime time radio and TV gambling ads to protect children

Independents for Canberra ACT election candidate David Pollard doesn’t see the need for more consultation on this issue.

“Nationally, the Greens wouldn’t bat an eyelid about supporting a total ban on gambling ads. Here in Canberra, they are content to kick the can down the road. They have started a consultation to ask for anecdotes and opinions and are proposing a weak ban on media channels that children are barely consuming. Do they not have enough evidence already? Gambling is harmful, and gambling ads are unnecessary,” he said.

Mr Pollard also criticised the federal government for requesting stakeholders sign NDAs to prevent them from talking about a briefing on gambling ad reforms.

“People are crying out for transparency, accountability and integrity. None of those things are achieved by having an NDA in place. Locking access to what should be a standard industry briefing behind an NDA does not inspire trust. It shows they are afraid of the public reaction and need to sell it to insiders first. That is how lobbyists get what they want, not how Australia gets good policy outcomes,” he said.

The office of Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland declined to answer a question from Region on why groups were asked to sign NDAs or respond to the claim that Labor is afraid of vested interests on this issue.

“The government continues to engage with stakeholders regarding the recommendations from the online wagering inquiry as we formulate our response. The Albanese Government is firmly committed to minimising harms from online gambling,” a spokesperson said.

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Incidental Tourist3:08 pm 13 Aug 24

Greens have proven track record of turning any problem to worse. Yesterday they decriminalised drugs to fight drug problem. To fight crimes they reduced police numbers and neglected their pay. Today they want ban on gambling but only in ACT on TV on limited times. Will such “ban” shift addiction online making problem worse? David Pollard is on the ball. Greens should pay more attention to grass mowing around Canberra instead.

ChrisinTurner1:07 pm 13 Aug 24

We banned all advertising of tobacco products and the sky did not fall. The media should not depend on creating problem gamblers.

Actually, the tobacco ban caused significant damage to motorsport, especially bikes where the financial hole’s never been filled.

If you banned gambling, booze and fast food sponsorship (being the ones under attack), that’s going to take out a lot of big sponsors from multiple sports and increase competition for the remaining ones.

I’d note for those claiming there’d be no negative effects: just because you choose not to measure them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

The sporting world is somewhat different in 2024 however. For instance, the big codes have some clubs that are exposed through direct sponsorship, but the governing bodies actually hoover a whole lot more up out of product fees from gambling companies then they do out of sponsorship/advertising. Those cash flows are going to be unaffected.

No one is suggesting anywhere at this point in time a ban on booze or fast food sponsorship.

I see “public health” advocates quite regularly call for restrictions or bans on both, especially alcohol.

And not only would there be a direct decrease in revenue but if the laws achieved their aims other revenue streams would decrease.

It also didn’t stop people taking up smoking, so has been a failure.

It also has resulted in a significant decrease in smoking in Australia and other countries who have implemented bans as shown by numerous scientific studies. Whilst not the only causative effect, smoking rates have decreased by half in the last 15 odd years in Australia.

I hate banning things in general, but there’s no argument to be made that banning cigarette advertising hasn’t reduced both overall smoking rates and take up by new smokers.

I think that’s probably more the result of general health education and the ever increasing price of them than advertising bans.

We went from telling pregnant women to smoke to lower the birth weight of babies, to telling people how dangerous smoking actually is. I don’t know anybody who quit because the packaging changed or the ads stopped. I know several who quit over cost and health concerns.

Yes, there are definitely other factors in play but the effect of the advertising ban is still real, particularly for reducing the takeup of smoking by younger people in the first place.

Removing advertising, denormalises smoking as a part of regular society, reduces its social acceptance and the positive aspects that advertising portrays.

If nothing else, just look at how hard tobacco companies fought the ban. Because they knew that the advertising worked in both initiating new smokers and continuing/increasing use from existing smokers.

Maybe, but I still don’t think banning advertising had quite the impact proponents of the ban made out. I think it may have had a small impact on people taking up smoking. While I know it is anecdotal, most people I’d ever asked why they took it up said something like “My parents smoked” or friends/siblings etc. Never once “Because I saw that awesome ad for Winfield blues”. 🤣

I think the social license was dropping off even before the ad bans too. Education on the dangers had worked relatively well. By the late 80s anyway, people knew it was bad for you, and ‘no smoking’ was popping up all over the place.

There are a heap of reasons behind the drop off, and lack of advertising was one, but I’m just not convinced that impact was quite as big as has been claimed by various places.

On this gambling issue as well, problem gambling was an issue well before the likes of sportsbet ads showed up. The ads are just todays scapegoat IMO.

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