David Pocock says no total gambling ad ban would be ‘complete betrayal’ of Peta Murphy’s legacy
Independent ACT senator David Pocock says if the government does not introduce a total ban to gambling advertising (phased in over three years as recommended by the Murphy review) it would be “a complete betrayal of Peta Murphy and her legacy”:
It’s a betrayal of Australians.
80% of Australians want this, and we have a government that doesn’t have the guts to actually stand up to the gambling industry, doesn’t have the imagination to actually work with TV to find a way to ensure that they are viable.
Pocock said Labor’s attitude towards the gambling ban was “summed up by reports this morning that a Labor backbencher, on the condition of anonymity, said that “sometimes you have to be brave”:
Just think about that – you’re anonymously saying that you need to be brave.
I thank Mike Freelander and [Dunkley MP] Jodie Belyea from Labor, Keith Wolahan, from the Libs. [Nationals MP] Pat Conaghan, they’re all speaking up. They know this is the right thing to do. We’ve seen former prime ministers come out, but where is the courage from this Labor government?
Key events
Benita Kolovos
Jacinta Allan says the amendments will mean “stronger consequences” for youth offenders accused of repeat, serious crimes.
She says:
These reforms deliver action at both ends of the spectrum, taking that whole of justice system response, helping kids get back on track and ensuring repeat offenders face serious consequences. I look forward to working with our Parliament this week … to pass these changes as a matter of urgency, because every serious offender should feel serious consequences.
And every Victorian should feel safe.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian Labor to drop pledge to raise age of criminal responsibility to 14 amid host of youth justice reforms
The Victorian premier (Jacinta Allan), attorney general (Jaclyn Symes), police minister (Anthony Carbines), youth justice minister (Enver Erdogan) and police commissioner (Shane Patton) are set to begin a press conference on youth crime.
As we reported earlier, the government will be announcing it is walking away from its commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027. They are also announcing a suite of changes to their youth justice bill, which is being debated in the upper house this week.
They include:
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Amending the Bail Act to make it explicit to bail-decision-makers that if there’s an “unacceptable risk” that a person could commit a serious crime if released that’s a “clear reason to refuse bail”.
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The Bail Act will also be amended to specifically call out aggravated home invasion, burglary, car jacking, dangerous driving and family violence as examples of “unacceptable risk”.
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Amending the Bail Act to clarify the ability of police to apply for bail to be revoked when people have committed further offences while on bail.
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The creation of a new seperate offence of committing a serious crime while on bail. This offence was removed as part of bail changes that came into effect earlier this year.
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The introduction of a new magistrate in the children’s court to specially deal with criminal cases of repeat youth offenders. This reform will be fast-tracked and in place by the end of the year, the government says.
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The introduction of additional police prosecutors to manage repeat youth offenders.
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A new “council on bail, rehabilitation and accountability” (dubbed Cobra) to keep track of youth offenders. Made up of experts, police and schools they will keep government informed about youth offenders past, what’s driving their behaviour and “how to stop the cycle”.
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An audit of other measures introduced in the bill.
Birmingham defends Aukus clauses
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham has defended the exit ramps which are contained in the Aukus agreement (information about the agreement was tabled by Richard Marles in the parliament yesterday). The US or UK can pull out of the agreement with a year’s notice.
Dan Hurst has gone into detail on what we know about the deal here.
But Birmingham was defending the exit clause:
Nothing that any country seeks to do with another country can be guaranteed in ten, 20, 30, 40, 50 years’ time. But what we are seeking to do here is to build sovereign capabilities in Australia in terms of our own nuclear-powered submarine capability industry and to establish that workforce here in Australia. But of course, to do it in tandem through that technology exchange.
And we have just as the US and the UK, such a long alliance with each of those countries, and we should have absolute confidence in the ability to deliver on this program.
We should never take a backward step from that ambition, and we’ve got to be charging ahead with it, and we have to be looking at it in the same type of time frame as the depth of that alliance has been before us.
More on Labor’s ‘balanced approach’
It appears the government is doubling down on the “other considerations” side of the gambling ban.
Murray Watt:
I have an immense amount of respect for the work Peta Murphy did. She was terrific colleague, a really intelligent person who considered these issues very deeply. She and her committee did put forward some recommendations which we are now considering.
We haven’t made decisions at this point in time. We are consulting all of the stakeholders who’ve got an interest in it and I’m confident that the ministers responsible will be able to put forward a balanced approach that does something about this issue while recognising some of the other impacts that it would have.
Murray Watt emphasises ‘balanced approach’ to gambling ad ban
Back to gambling and workplace minister Murray Watt also spoke to ABC Breakfast TV where he was asked about the government’s plans, and the criticism it wasn’t going far enough:
I think we need a balanced approach to the issue. I’m a father. I see gambling ads on TV a lot. I’d like something more done about it and I know that’s what Michelle Rowland and Amanda Rishworth are working on right now but we need to recognise it’s an important revenue source for free-to-air TV when it’s under immense pressure from social media.
It’s an important revenue source for sporting codes and that’s why we’re taking the time to think this through properly and come up with a workable solution that takes those issues into consideration.
Pelosi criticises Keating comments on Taiwan as ‘Chinese real estate’
The ABC’s Sarah Ferguson has interviewed former House speaker and Democrat power broker Nancy Pelosi. The interview will air this evening on 7.30. But Ferguson was on ABC Breakfast TV this morning to give a little forward sizzle, broadcasting a comment Pelosi made in response to Paul Keating’s recent comment that Taiwan was “Chinese real estate”.
Pelosi:
You don’t want to get my description of him for saying that. That’s ridiculous. It is not Chinese real estate and he should know that. Taiwan is Taiwan and it is the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there. I think that that was a stupid statement.
I’ve no idea about Keating, but I think that it was a stupid statement to make, and I don’t know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing. But it is really not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way.
Pocock: no evidence that gambling companies are good faith actors
There is the possibility that the Coalition will support Labor’s capped advertising plan (as it exists at the moment – the legislation has not been presented and is yet to go through cabinet) which would mean the crossbench and the Greens would not have any negotiating power (Labor and the Coalition in the senate is enough votes).
David Pocock said he will be supporting legislation that was based on late Labor MP Peta Murphy’s inquiry:
I’ll be supporting what the Murphy review recommended, which was a full ban phased in over three years.
That has the broad support of the parliament, and is what I’m hearing from people I represent here in the ACT [is] they are sick and tired of seeing gambling ads every time they try and watch something with their kids …
… the suggestion that these gambling companies are good faith actors, and … they’re just going to do the right thing and stop targeting young people, there’s no evidence to back that up.
We know that young people are routinely seeing gambling ads, and this has to stop.
While we are on the subject of gambling ads and commercial media, it might be timely to remind you that the Guardian globally banned all gambling advertising in June last year.
That followed the ban on fossil fuel advertising which was put in place in 2020.
Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor wrote on the Guardian gambling ad ban here:
Pocock: free TV problems are solvable but we can’t put it ahead of gambling issues
Pocock said there were answers to the advertising issue, if the government wanted to do the work.
Sure, we need to ensure that free TV is thriving and looked after, but making the argument that we can’t tackle a social harm because of the effect will have on free TV?
If we want to deal with free TV, let’s, let’s, let’s look at that. And I think we need to also look at the whole picture here. We’re talking about $186m of revenue for TV out of $3.2bn of total advertising revenue.
So this is, this is not something that we can’t solve. And I refuse to agree with someone who says we need to put gambling interests and big companies ahead of everyday Australians, of the people that we actually here in Canberra to make decisions for. Not for industry, for Australians, and this is about social harm.
Pocock dismisses Shorten comments on ad ban harming free-to-air broadcasters
David Pocock also took Bill Shorten to task over his comments on the Bad Show [Q&A] that a blanket ban on gambling advertising would harm free-to-air commercial media.
I don’t think Mr Shorten was on that inquiry.
When they handed down their report, there was not a single dissenting report or additional comments.
Labor fully endorsed that, and we’re seeing the pushback that Labor are getting from Australians who care about this, who care about their kids and grandkids, and we’re seeing the pushback that they’re getting from backbenchers who know that this is the right thing to do.
David Pocock says no total gambling ad ban would be ‘complete betrayal’ of Peta Murphy’s legacy
Independent ACT senator David Pocock says if the government does not introduce a total ban to gambling advertising (phased in over three years as recommended by the Murphy review) it would be “a complete betrayal of Peta Murphy and her legacy”:
It’s a betrayal of Australians.
80% of Australians want this, and we have a government that doesn’t have the guts to actually stand up to the gambling industry, doesn’t have the imagination to actually work with TV to find a way to ensure that they are viable.
Pocock said Labor’s attitude towards the gambling ban was “summed up by reports this morning that a Labor backbencher, on the condition of anonymity, said that “sometimes you have to be brave”:
Just think about that – you’re anonymously saying that you need to be brave.
I thank Mike Freelander and [Dunkley MP] Jodie Belyea from Labor, Keith Wolahan, from the Libs. [Nationals MP] Pat Conaghan, they’re all speaking up. They know this is the right thing to do. We’ve seen former prime ministers come out, but where is the courage from this Labor government?
Greens mull supporting Labor’s CFMEU laws
In the Greens party room meeting later this morning, the party will make its decision on whether to support the government’s CFMEU administration legislation.
The government has introduced legislation into the parliament to allow for an independent administrator to be appointed to the CFMEU after the union challenged the move in court.
Under the bill, union bosses who attempted to frustrate the process could face fines of almost a million dollars or two years in jail. Civil penalties are also listed for union branches not complying with the administrator. The bill sunsets in three years time.
The Coalition is pushing for an inquiry into the bill, which would delay its passage through the parliament. Sarah Hanson-Young says the Greens are considering the bill:
We only saw the legislation tabled in the Senate yesterday. So, we need to go through that. We’re looking at the details. We understand that the government has amendments to the bill they only tabled yesterday.
So look, we’re going to go through that. But let me be clear – I can see that something needs to be done. I can see that noone should be … tolerating thuggery, violence misogyny in workplaces or organisations, and I feel very strongly about that. But we’ll go through this legislation.
We’ll wait to see what amendments the government is putting forward, and we’ll make our decision. But I’m not interested at all in giving misogynists a free ride in any workplace.
Greens to push for gambling ad ban via communication bill
As Paul Karp reported yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young and the Greens would amend some seperate communications bills already in the Senate to include a total advertising ban on gambling.
It’s time we stop this insidious industry from wrecking people’s lives. We did it with tobacco. And we need to do it with gambling. We don’t argue that cancer patients should carry the cost of funding news and funding sport because we banned tobacco advertising.
We should be making vulnerable children and families that are being torn apart because of gambling to do that as well.
Greens say media is in trouble but gambling victims shouldn’t carry the costs
The Greens communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, has spoken to ABC TV this morning following Bill Shorten’s Q&A appearance, accusing the government of “not showing enough spine to stare down these big gambling lobby groups who have had a free ride for far too long”.
Hanson-Young didn’t deny that commercial media was facing challenges. But she said the government needed to address the harm being done to people.
We know that media across the country is in trouble. There is a struggle with the big social media giants. But it shouldn’t be vulnerable children and those families that are being torn apart because of gambling that are forced to carry the cost.
And that is just ridiculous to suggest that vulnerable families, individuals who have gambling addictions, should be the ones who are carrying the can rather than finding a better way to support media in this country.
I mean, frankly, I don’t think that it is going to wash with the community.
Labor to launch revamped federal digital ID system
Sarah Basford Canales
The government services minister, Bill Shorten, will today announce a new federal ID system to be launched by the end of the year with “consent, choice and trust” at its heart.
In a speech to be delivered at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Shorten will unveil the proof of concept designed to give Australians the option to share select aspects of their identity and credentials with services and businesses using a government app.
The new digital ID system, which the government has invested $11.4m in to build and launch by 2024’s end, will be called Trust Exchange, or TEx for short.
Shorten will say the system would allow users to hand over only the necessary information, or none at all, through a digital wallet containing official information already held by the federal government.
For example, a person checking in at the hotel could store key information – such as passport or a driver’s licence – in the digital wallet and scan a code to hand specific details over to the hotel rather than allowing a business to scan your documents.
Shorten is expected to point to other examples where the system could work, such as verifying your age at a nightclub or your qualifications with an employer. The minister will say:
The token will be a valuable promise to the club, but of zero value to a cybercriminal because the confirmation token will not contain any personal information.
Shorten will say the technology is “brand new” and “world-leading” and opts for a carrot over stick approach.
The strength of TEx lies in its potential to give Australians control of their data that will rival the gold standard General Data Protection Regulation in Europe but without the regulation and complexity.
We’ll learn more after the minister’s speech begins at 12.30pm.
Good morning
Happy Tuesday – also known as party room meeting day/the calm ahead of the storm.
Usually, Tuesdays are a flurry of activity quite early on and then a bit of a lull before the parliament sits at midday.
Today is also Bill Shorten day. The government services minister is chasing his Q&A appearance last night with a National Press Club address. He’ll be announcing a new digital national ID, with “consent, choice and trust” at the centre.
It’s very Shorten language to describe a system where the government holds a digital wallet where people can store their ID, but can opt to share tokens showing their ID has been verified rather than the ID itself. The idea is to cut down on the number of vendors who can hold your ID. He’ll have more in his speech later today.
Last night, Shorten was selling the government’s message on everything from cost of living to gambling reform on the ABC, so he is pretty primed for attention today. He all but confirmed the government won’t be going for a blanket ban on gambling advertising, as Peta Murphy’s inquiry called for, saying he “wasn’t convinced complete prohibition works”.
On that point, he and his Liberal sparring partner, senator Jane Hume were in agreement, with Hume saying it was all about “balance”.
Shorten also said the quiet part out loud when it came to some of the commercial media concerns around the ban: “Some of you might say, ‘well, bugger them, just don’t worry, we don’t need free-to-air media’ … but free-to-air media is in diabolical trouble,” adding a lot of that trouble was coming from “big tech” like Meta.
The Coalition has not ruled out supporting the government’s gambling legislation, which would mean negotiations with the crossbench and Greens would not be needed. Still, we all have to see it first. We are all told that negotiations are “ongoing”.
Meanwhile, in Perth, former prime minister Scott Morrison is expected to enter the witness box to give evidence in the defamation trial Linda Reynolds has brought against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins. Morrison is expected to be asked about some of the statements he gave at the time.
When it comes to Canberra, you’ll have Karen Middleton, Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford Canales covering the day. Mike Bowers is already up and about wandering the hallways and you have me, Amy Remeikis, with you on the blog for most of the day.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
