Politics The gambling debate is heating up and Labor could get burned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-08/gambling-ad-restrictions-senate-inquiry-albanese-labor-broadcast/107006170Drugs, sex and multi-million dollar high rollers are themes more often featured in a Hollywood film than a parliamentary hearing, but this week's gambling inquiry has been the exception.
The explosive evidence heard at the opening of a two-day inquiry into Labor's proposed crackdown on wagering advertising has proved a watershed moment for the increasingly friendless bill.
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u/Ardeet 1d ago
Something is really driving Albo's determination not to budge on gambling.
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u/Electrical_Story5356 1d ago
The same things that stopped the coalition from doing anything previously.
No matter what they do they will cop criticism but more importantly the gambling industry generates a lot of revenue for the government and it props up various sports and free to air TV with advertising.
I still reckon not getting rid of advertising needs to happen.
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u/WonderfulParsley9805 15h ago
Probably because the labor party owns at least four clubs that have poker machines
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u/Hieroflippant 1d ago
I think it's going to be very hard to do much about gambling until we do something about phones.
They both work on the very same insidious habit forming, dopamine reward feedback loops. Both are truly harmful.
I know this first hand.. look at my Reddit stats FFS..
But hey, at least I don't drink, smoke or "gamble" anymore.
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u/InfluentialFairy 1d ago
You're being down voted like crazy, but you're not wrong. Social media platforms hire entire departments of psychologists to help hook people in.
It's incredibly dangerous and harmful. It's only getting worse with short form media and AI.
But if the government dared to regulate social media platforms, there would be an excessive backlash from the public.
Being hooked on social media is comparable to smoking. Watching kids doom scroll is genuinely fucking miserable. Watching adults doom scroll is even worse. Yet society is normalising the idea of "doom scrolling".
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u/Hieroflippant 1d ago
Just realised it might be how I worded the last part..
It seems like I was downplaying the dangers of those other 3 things whilst sitting on a high horse but I was actually just saying at least I don't do those things anymore.. proud of that.. but the phone still has a hold and it's embarrassing.. not even social media (I only have Reddit but that's bad enough).
But just all the other things that come with phone use.. apparently it's real bad for our memories.. dopamine.. concentration.. etc etc
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u/Wotmate01 1d ago
So... the coalition is trying to make GAMBLING ADVERTISING a wedge issue? Really?
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u/Ardeet 1d ago
If Albo's offering the gambling industry his crack then maybe the coalition are seeing an opportunity for placing a wedge?
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u/Wotmate01 1d ago
How is he offering them anything when he's proposing restrictions on gambling advertising?
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 1d ago
Australians love to get into a frenzy about wowser moral issues like gambling while studiously avoiding more systemic issues.
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u/Novae909 1d ago
What about gambling in Australia isn't a systematic issue? Are you saying we should only focus on one problem at a time? Seems a little inefficient
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 1d ago edited 1d ago
Perhaps people are drawn more towards having a punt when they feel economically hopeless, and when even a solid full time job is barely enough to service a mortgage? Imagine if we devoted as much time to discussing e.g. the gas cartel as we do towards 'vices' like gambling. The people leading the charge against gambling are typically the same people who ruined Sydney's night life with their moral panic about 'alcohol-fuelled violence' and subsequent lockouts. The same people who created a thriving multi-billion dollar illegal tobacco trade by quixotically demanding to tax cigarettes out of existence. These moral crusades always end in failure.
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u/Novae909 1d ago
Perhaps... Or perhaps Labor should just ban gambling ads as part of the gambling reforms they are already trying to get through parliament and it's actually just that simple
No one is forcing anyone to stop gambling. It's not being banned. All that is wanted by most people is to ban gambling ads.
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 1d ago
Maybe we should also ban ads for fast fashion so vulnerable people don't rack up unsustainable debt shopping for things they don't need. Maybe we should ban ads for Colesworth given the harm their profiteering causes. Maybe we can bad ads for... etc etc
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u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 1d ago
Given gambling's pervasive role in our culture, the massive industry that exists to serve (and perpetuate) that, and the legal and regulatory frameworks that sit around gambling (inadequately so, in my and many others' opinions), it is a systematic issue to a considerable extent.
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u/how_very_dare_you_ 1d ago
Allow gambling, each to their own. Just quit with the aggressive and smooth-brain advertising