MPs have been requesting a conscience vote on gambling advertising

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Crossbenchers have written to the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader requesting for MPs to have a conscience vote on gambling advertising reform.

Transcript

00:00Those two independent MPs Andrew Wilkie and Rebecca Sharkey say that they've heard from

00:07backbenchers both on the opposition and government benches telling them that they feel uncomfortable

00:13just voting the way that their party will vote on reform to gambling advertising.

00:20Now the government's official proposal for shaking up the way gambling ads work hasn't

00:26been made officially public yet but from various briefings it appears that they're leaning

00:31towards limiting gambling ads as opposed to a total ban which was a recommendation from

00:37an inquiry that was done here in parliament and was chaired by late Labor MP Peter Murphy.

00:44Now publicly we have also heard from Labor MP Dr Mike Freelander, he's been outspoken

00:50on the issue and says that limitations as opposed to a total ban would be inadequate

00:56and to quote him he says we're being softened up and pummeled by the gambling industry.

01:01So these two MPs have written to Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese requesting that MPs across

01:07the parliament get a conscience vote.

01:10Why is that needed?

01:11Well if you don't follow politics closely it's because if parliamentarians don't vote

01:17with their party they can face consequences.

01:20Of course you know recently we saw that with Senator Fatima Payman you know who has since

01:25left the Labor Party after that.

01:28Here's independent Andrew Wilkie speaking earlier.

01:32Clearly emotions are running very high both within the community and here in the parliament.

01:40Bec and I have spoken to numerous backbenchers in both the government and the opposition

01:45who are very uncomfortable with the direction this is heading and they want to have their say.

01:50And I think it's self-evident that no party can come up with a policy that will be agreeable

01:57to people across the breadth of this country and across all of the seats of their members.

02:04So Evelyn how did the government defend itself during question time?

02:08Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was asked a question by the Greens.

02:11It wasn't related to this pitch for a conscience vote but more broadly on reform to gambling

02:18advertising.

02:19The question was related to an interview that was on the ABC's RN Breakfast this morning

02:25from an ex-gambling boss who was talking about this need for a total ban to best protect

02:31children.

02:32There was a pretty strong response from Michelle Rowland.

02:36She was saying that the government is standing up to a number of very well resourced people

02:40with of course a vested interest who don't want change.

02:45This is her response.

02:46This is a government that is being consultative, evidence based and committed to three things.

02:55Firstly, to ensure that we break the normalisation between gambling and sport.

03:03Secondly, that we protect children.

03:06Thirdly, that we focus on the saturation of ads and the fact that they are targeted at

03:13one of the most vulnerable cohorts in Australia, namely young men aged 18 to 35.

03:21Now, we do know that the government is continuing to consult with other MPs here in Parliament

03:27and those in the industry as well but it's still not clear exactly when they will officially

03:33put forward their proposal.

03:35It's a waiting game for now.

03:36Evelyn Manfield, thank you.

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