Australian PM: Any betting ban an “intrusion into people's personal liberties”

The Australian prime minister has said the “connection between sports and gambling needs to be broken” as he pushed back against reformist figures’ hopes to outlaw the sector in its entirety.  

Speaking in the Australian parliament this week, Anthony Albanese (pictured) acknowledged the need to separate gambling from both sport and children’s programming as part of the government’s “responsibility to restrict the damage” marketing could have.

He said: “I think that we need to act. The impact of when ads are available is a major factor here. I don’t think there should be any advertising aimed at children.

“I don’t think there should be any advertising during G-rated programmes and during children’s programmes.  

“I think that we need to make sure that adults can be adults, but children can be children, and the connection as well between sport and gambling needs to be broken because sport should be enjoyed for what it is, and that is an important focus of why we are undertaking these reforms.” 

Albanese stressed he staunchly opposes any calls from anti-gambling lobbyists for a total gambling ban, as that would be an “intrusion into people’s personal liberties”. 

The prime minister cited Reverend Tim Costello, chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, as a key lobbyist he has engaged with regarding the sector, but insisted their viewpoints were not aligned on an ultimate end goal for gambling in Australia.

Albanese continued: “Many of them [lobbyists] want gambling stopped, full stop. That is the truth of their position, and that’s a legitimate position for them to take. But it’s not one that I have in terms of stopping all gambling right across the board. 

“I think that would have an impact and be an intrusion into people’s personal liberties, which is not appropriate in my view. I respect some people have a different view. I do not believe the state has an absolute right to determine the behaviour of individuals across the board.” 

The prime minster also reserved praise for the work done by his Labor government, believing them to have “done more to act against harmful gambling than any government in Australian history”. 

Albanese’s comments in parliament came as the issue of gambling advertising proves continuingly divisive Down Under.

The government came under scrutiny after reports emerged it was planning to go ahead with the cap system, as opposed to the blanket ban on gambling ads proposed by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.  

The revised proposal would see gambling adverts limited to two per hour on each channel until 10pm, in addition to a total ban one hour before and one hour after live sport.  

Former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull signed an open letter in support of a blanket ban, as well as the Australian Medical Association throwing its support behind the policy.  

On the other side, Labor MP Bill Shorten claimed free-to-air TV in the country would suffer without gambling ads. 

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth noted that there are currently no plans to implement a national gambling regulator in the country.  

Last week, Albanese shut down rumours that a gambling ad ban would come into effect within the next two years. 

He added that reports of an “almost immediate ban” on online gambling marketing were also wide of the mark. 

Photo credit: Elizabeth Fraser/Arlington National Cemetery/public domain