Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) Australian Institute for Family Studies research shows that more than half a million Australian adults regularly bet on sports;

(b) 41 per cent of these gamblers, or 234,000 Australians, experience serious gambling related problems;

(c) in total, Australians spend more than $24.8 billion a year on gambling;

(d) research from the Australian Institute for Family Studies shows that Australians who gamble have on average increased the frequency of their gambling and their amount spent during the COVID-19 pandemic;

(e) the same research identifies that half of gamblers have experienced a deterioration in their mental and physical health during the pandemic; and

(f) professional players in the NRL and AFL are increasingly experiencing online harassment and threats from gamblers who have lost money through betting on matches in which they participated;

(2) commends the Government on its action to date to restrict the level of gambling advertising broadcast during live sports; and

(3) encourages the Government to continue to explore options to further reduce the harm caused by problem gambling.

Among the many other harmful effects of this COVID-19 pandemic, one very damaging consequences is going to prove extremely difficult to reverse. Australians already are the world's biggest gamblers, and today they are spending, betting and losing more than ever before. A survey of more than 2,000 adults who gambled, conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, has found that one in three Australian gamblers has opened more betting accounts during COVID-19. The number of adults who gamble more than four times every week has increased by 40 per cent. Young men aged 18-34, who are already some of our most at-risk gamblers, have increased their average spending from $687 to $1,075 during this pandemic despite losing access to casinos, betting shops and racetracks for much of this year. Disturbingly, 79 per cent of adults who gamble were classified in the study based on their responses as being at risk of or already experiencing gambling related harm.

Gambling in Australia results in enormous financial, personal and social costs to our community, and these are only rising. It ruins many thousands of lives and robs ordinary families of almost $25 billion each year. It's for this reason that I will always advocate strongly against gambling's further promotion and proliferation in our country. We are running short on time today, so I want to spend the last couple of minutes talking about what this government has done and what we need to be doing more of to protect Australians in this space.

I want to acknowledge this government's efforts in restricting live sport betting. I cannot tell you how many families, how many mums and dads, have approached me and spoken to me about the prolific nature of gambling in sport. We all know. We've all watched different types of sport and been bombarded with live sport betting. What concerns me the most, particularly around young people, is that, when I was growing up—even when you were growing up all those many years ago, Mr Deputy Speaker Falinski—we used to be able to tell you who was playing full-forward for Collingwood or St Kilda or who was a basketballer or NRL player, but now it's not just about the players; it's about the odds.

With the way sport and gambling have come together in recent years, young people are unable to differentiate between gambling and sport, and that is so very tragic. We've recently seen some of our headline sports stars come out in the media and talk about how they have received death threats because they didn't perhaps play as well as they should have and how people have lost money on their performance.

While this government has acted to restrict live sport betting, much to its credit, there's still a lot of work to be done. While I have breath in my lungs, I can assure you that I will be continuing to press this government to act further. We've got to stop the craziness in this country, where people are spending $25 billion on gambling. That is the equivalent of six or seven brand new public hospitals that could be invested in by a government. It is $25 billion which is being lost by families, some of whom are unable to put food on the table or pay the rent. These gambling companies are raking in billions of dollars, whilst Australians can't pay the bills. This is something we've got to do. This is something I'll continue to press this government to do.

Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Sitting suspended from 13:31 to 16:00