Anthony Albanese is the Prime Minister of Australia. He believes that gambling advertisements during sporting events are “annoying”, but refuses to implement a policy to ban them.
Review Will Decide
Albanese, in an interview with Guardian Australian, refused to directly comment on the possibility that his Government would ban gambling advertisements during matches. He referred to the ongoing review of the issue.
When asked about the ban, he said: “I don’t wish to preempt the review that is currently underway.” “But personally, I find these annoying,” he said, siding unofficially with the critics who are concerned about the barrage gambling advertisements that flood televised games.
Albanese used the interview as a platform to comment on Peter Dutton’s proposed ban, saying that Dutton was surprised by Dutton’s advocacy of a ban in light of nine years of Coalition rule when “nothing…was done…on any of these issues.”
The Proactive Gambling Policy
Albanese, while pointing out the Coalition’s lack of action on this issue during the years they ruled the country, noted that his own government had been proactive with its gambling policy since the beginning, and highlighted some of the progress made so far.
He said, “We have been in government for one year now and we’ve initiated a review… after we changed the advertising guidelines. We’ve strengthened them to include any gambling advertising.”
Albanese also referred to the prohibition on using credit cards when wagering online and the restrictions placed on video game gambling.
Dutton’s Ban Proposal
Last week, Dutton, leader of the Australian Opposition party and head of the Liberal Party in his budget response speech and suggested a ban on advertising for sports betting during broadcasts as well as an hour before and following a televised sport game.
Dutton said that advertisements for gambling during sporting events are taking the fun out of watching sports on television, and changing the culture in the country. They have created a mentality which associates sports betting to sports.
He added that he encouraged the Prime Minister to collaborate with him on this initiative, which is in the best interest of Australian consumers.
Free TV, the leading commercial TV group, fiercely opposed Dutton’s proposal, which was backed by Greens and Independents. Free TV slammed it for being “not based on evidence” and “likely to disproportionately harm local broadcasters.”
The gambling industry would be very upset if the government banned betting advertisements during matches on television.
