Australian MP claims free-to-air TV is in “diabolical trouble” without gambling ads
Labour’s Bill Shorten argues against ad ban but admits cap system needs more work as pressure mounts on Albanese government following open letter publication
Australia’s minister for government services Bill Shorten has claimed free-to-air TV needs gambling ads to stay afloat.
Shorten told Australian broadcaster ABC that free-to-air services Down Under would face serious troubles should gambling ads been pulled in their entirety, as recommended by the late Peta Murphy MP’s parliamentary inquiry.
Last week, reports suggested Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was set to introduce a cap system which would see two gambling adverts per hour on each channel until 10pm.
Ads would also be banned online, during children’s programming and an hour either side of live sports.
Those proposals have been met with ire across Australia, with an open letter signed by two former prime ministers and senior figures from the health and social care and charity sectors calling for a blanket ban.
Murphy’s report, which was released last summer, had called for the phased banning of gambling ads over a three-year period.
However, during ABC’s Q+A, I can’t do it show yesterday, 12 August, Shorten said a complete ban would not work due to television needing the revenue generated by gambling ads.
Though he admitted they should not be shown alongside children’s programming, he argued for keeping ads on TV and admitted the proposed cap system must be improved upon.
He argued: “I’m not convinced that complete prohibition works. You don’t want to be deluged during sport but I think we can do better than one hour before, during and one hour after.
“There’s no reason for gambling ads to be on when kids’ shows are on. We got ourselves in this wicked situation where some of the free-to-air media need gambling ad revenue at any time in order just to stay afloat.
“Now, some of you might say, ‘well, bugger them, just don’t worry. We don’t need free-to-air media.’ It’s fair to say a lot of us don’t watch it much.
“You might watch it for a sporting game, you might watch it to watch Q+A. But free-to-air media is in diabolical trouble.”
Should the blanket ban be implemented, Responsible Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell believes Australians will be forced to gamble with illegal operators.
Representing firms including bet365 and PointsBet, Cantwell similarly warned of the dangers a ban could bring.
He said: “We run the risk of driving Australian consumers to the illegal offshore providers, which are rife online already.
“They offer no consumer protections and no economic benefits for Australian punters.”
Cantwell’s comments were countered by independent senator David Pocock, who argued the ban would not lead to a flock of Australians betting with offshore firms.
Talking to ABC Radio, he said: “This is a desperate industry that’s lost its social licence.
“No one’s saying that you’re going to ban people from having a punt, from downloading a sports betting app – you can do that.
“This is about stopping the inundation, the total saturation of online and TV advertising.”