Labor and the Liberals have pushed back on a complete ban on gambling ads despite pledges to taper an inundation of betting material targeting Australians.
Independent senator David Pocock forced a vote on the issue as he called for the government to implement the recommendations of a landmark review headed by late-Labor MP Peta Murphy.
The non-binding motion called on Labor to ban online gambling ads in phases over three years.
Labor and the Liberals voted against the motion while the Greens supported the ban.
Such was the torrent of gambling exposure, young kids were able to name all the betting companies and odds for their favourite teams before kick-off, Senator Pocock said.
Senator David Pocock accused the prime minister of parroting lines used by the gambling lobby. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
"The evidence shows up that 75 per cent of young people, of children now think that gambling is just a normal part of enjoying sport - it's what you do," the former Wallabies captain told parliament on Wednesday.
"What can we expect to happen when they hit 18, when they can actually gamble, even though we're hearing that 16, 17-year-olds already place bets."
Australians are the biggest losers per capita when gambling with $25 billion in legal betting losses each year.
Labor senator Raff Ciccone defended the government's position, saying the minister was still consulting on how the government would respond to the review but it was clear "the status quo is untenable".
"It's an issue that does deserve serious action, serious attention," he said.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson chastised the government for being too slow to lay out a plan before saying the coalition's policy was to wait for Labor's reply first.
"But the bombardment of betting ads takes the joy out of televised sports," Senator Henderson said as she spruiked the opposition's policy to ban betting ads an hour before and after live sports matches.
Addressing concerns from free-to-air broadcasters about a loss of advertising revenue, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called for the government to tax big tech companies and use the money to fund journalism.
She said she was happy to look at calls to scrap the commercial broadcasting tax, which is linked to where networks broadcast.
The huge push from independents to stop gambling advertising reflects what we are hearing from our communities.— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) All parliamentarians need to step up, listen to this message and not accept anything less than the total ban the Murphy review recommended. pic.twitter.com/e826uoK0i9August 12, 2024
Almost $240 million was spent on gambling advertising on free-to-air TV, radio and online between May 2022 and April 2023, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
While a final policy hasn't been announced, the prime minister warned of unintended consequences from a blanket ban.
"It just appears somewhere else," Anthony Albanese told ABC TV on Wednesday.
"The internet means that people can gamble offshore."
It was worrying the prime minister was parroting gambling lobby lines people would be pushed to illegal, offshore gambling sites, Senator Pocock said.
"No one is saying let's ban gambling, you can still have a punt, the apps will still be there for people," he said.
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