Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven AM.
Speaker 1: In Anthony Albanesi's political universe, personal relationships are everything. High
Speaker 1: on the list for Alberanesi is his bond with Peter Landy's,
Speaker 1: the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission and chief
Speaker 1: executive of New South Wales Racing. That relationship has been
Speaker 1: central to the government's decision to again delay reforms of
Speaker 1: gambling advertising, which Flandy's strongly opposes. Today special correspondent for
Speaker 1: the Saturday Paper Jason Kotsukus with the inside story of
Speaker 1: why the government hasn't acted on gambling reform. It's Monday,
Speaker 1: December two. So Jason the Prime Minister. He's famously a
Speaker 1: big rugby league guy. His team is the rabbit Os.
Speaker 1: But not only that, he has friends in the league.
Speaker 1: He's known to be close to the chair of the
Speaker 1: Australian Rugby League Commission, in particular. Can you tell me
Speaker 1: a bit about him and about their relationship.
Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly right. So Peter landis a huge figure
Speaker 2: in Sydney, someone the Prime Minister has known for a
Speaker 2: very long time. A measure of how close they've become
Speaker 2: is that When Joe Biden hosted a state dinner at
Speaker 2: the White House for Anthony Aberenezi in October last year,
Speaker 2: one of the people that the Prime Minister took along
Speaker 2: with him was Peter Flanders.
Speaker 1: Peter the Landers, you're here for the state dinner?
Speaker 3: How did this come about?
Speaker 2: I lookwa had lunch one day with a Prime Minister
Speaker 2: and we were talking about Australian sport and how it
Speaker 2: would be in much the same way that his predecessor,
Speaker 2: Scott Morrison took Brain Houston to have a PM who's
Speaker 2: into rugby league? Is that a welcome thing for you? Look,
Speaker 2: it is also welcome. But he's also very smart.
Speaker 1: He can see.
Speaker 2: And then in May this year, Anthony Abenezi backed the
Speaker 2: NRLs push to add another team to the NRL competition
Speaker 2: based in New Guinea. The Prime Minister views this as
Speaker 2: a way of strengthening ties with not just PMNG but
Speaker 2: Australia's whole integration with the Pacific region, where Beijing is
Speaker 2: also competing for influence. They also collaborated on a funding
Speaker 2: agreement to upgrade the historicch art Oval, which is in
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister's Grainleer electorate, with the Federal government kicking
Speaker 2: and nearly half of the fifty million dollars required to
Speaker 2: upgrade that oval.
Speaker 1: Okay, so there's a close working relationship and also a
Speaker 1: close personal one. It's fair to say that Albert Easy
Speaker 1: and Plant is their buddies. How significant is that when
Speaker 1: it comes to the way that the Prime Minister has
Speaker 1: approached the issue of gambling reform.
Speaker 2: I think it's very significant. I spoke to labour insider
Speaker 2: who said that no voice has been more important when
Speaker 2: it comes to informing the PM on the consequences of
Speaker 2: a complete gambling advertising ban than velandis. That same person
Speaker 2: put the AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon a close second,
Speaker 2: and that no one else, not even the Freeware Networks
Speaker 2: or Kerry Stokes or even News Corporation has mattered as
Speaker 2: much in this debate as what the two sporting codes think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, as you say, we have heard a lot about
Speaker 1: gambling reform this year. Can you give me a sense
Speaker 1: of why that is, of why this issue has come
Speaker 1: to a head at this particular moment, well right back at.
Speaker 2: The beginning of the term, I think in September twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two, the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, she
Speaker 2: actually referred this issue to a Parliamentary inquiry and she
Speaker 2: asked them to have a look at online gambling and
Speaker 2: its impacts on people experiencing gambling RM. That committee was
Speaker 2: chaired by a Labor MP, the late Peter Murphy, and
Speaker 2: was made up of ten other MPs are drawn from
Speaker 2: both the two major parties and also the cross bench.
Speaker 2: And while they were working on that report, I think
Speaker 2: in May last year, Peter Dutton kind of got the
Speaker 2: jump on the committee and preempted one of their key recommendations.
Speaker 2: He used his Budget in Reply speech to announce that
Speaker 2: a coalition government would move to banned sports betting advertising
Speaker 2: during the broadcasting of games and for an hour before
Speaker 2: and after the game as well.
Speaker 3: In our country, futy time is family time, but the
Speaker 3: bombardment of betting ads takes the joy out of televised sports.
Speaker 2: Ten days later, in Parliament, the Opposition Communication Spokesman David
Speaker 2: Coleman asked the Prime Minister.
Speaker 3: Will the Prime Minister work with the Opposition to get
Speaker 3: this initiative implemented?
Speaker 2: Now give a call to the Prime Minister.
Speaker 3: I thanked the member for his question. No one likes
Speaker 3: their footing more than.
Speaker 2: Mate Alban he's a responded by saying that he was
Speaker 2: very concerned about gamely ads. He said he found them annoying.
Speaker 2: But he questioned why the Coalition was trying to move
Speaker 2: on this at that moment.
Speaker 3: If only they were in government sometime in the last decade,
Speaker 3: if only they'd had the opportunity to do something.
Speaker 2: And he also had it that he was going to
Speaker 2: be waiting for Peter Murphy's Inquiry to deliver its final
Speaker 2: report because you know, that is what's appropriate, he said
Speaker 2: at the time.
Speaker 1: Okay, So when the inquiry did report back, what did
Speaker 1: they find? You know?
Speaker 2: Six weeks after Dunton came out with that promise to
Speaker 2: ban sports betting ads during games, Peter Murphy's Committee tabled
Speaker 2: its report You win some, you Lose more. The committee
Speaker 2: unanimously agreed on the thirty one recommendations that that report contained.
Speaker 2: But the one recommendation that's caused all the headaches for
Speaker 2: the government is the one that has called for a
Speaker 2: comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling
Speaker 2: to be implemented over three years.
Speaker 1: So will the government listen to the evidence. That's after
Speaker 1: the break so Jason, The government said they wanted to
Speaker 1: wait until they got this report, final report before dealing
Speaker 1: with the issue of gambling reform. So once they had
Speaker 1: that in their hands, what did they do next?
Speaker 2: Well, last December, as the Communications Minister Michelle Roland was
Speaker 2: working through the government's response to the inquiry, Peter Murphy
Speaker 2: died from cancer and I think that added a lot
Speaker 2: of extra emotional charge to this issue because it was
Speaker 2: almost Peter Murffy's dying wish that the Government act on
Speaker 2: that key recommendation to ban gambling advertising. So when Parliament
Speaker 2: returned in February this year, five days ironically before the
Speaker 2: Dunkley by election to fill the parliamentary vacancy created by
Speaker 2: Peter Murphy's death, Zoe Daniel, the Teal Independent, asked the
Speaker 2: Prime Minister whether he would in fact honor Murphy's call
Speaker 2: for a full ban on gambling ads. What did he say, Well,
Speaker 2: he tried it out a form of words that he's
Speaker 2: kind of repeated each time he's been asked about this now,
Speaker 2: and that essentially has been that the Government is undertaking
Speaker 2: relevant consultations as you would expect us to do, he
Speaker 2: told Parliament then with all stakeholders. But by the middle
Speaker 2: of the year the same day that Albanezi met with
Speaker 2: the NRL's chief executive Andrew Abdo. The government was in
Speaker 2: fact ready with a compromised proposal that it was prepared
Speaker 2: to share with all the relevant stakeholders under strict confidentiality arrangements.
Speaker 2: And instead of a blanket ban on gambling advertising, Michelle
Speaker 2: Roland had come up with a proposal to introduce a
Speaker 2: cap of two gambling ads per hour on each channel
Speaker 2: up until ten PM, with a complete ban on gambling
Speaker 2: ads an hour before and after live sport.
Speaker 1: Right, So that's something, but it's not what the inquiry
Speaker 1: actually recommended.
Speaker 2: No, it's a compromise. But when news of Michelle Rolin's
Speaker 2: proposal leaked, the Prime Minister refused to back it, and
Speaker 2: he told journalists at that press conference, you know they
Speaker 2: shouldn't believe everything they read in the paper.
Speaker 3: Well, we'll announce what our preferred solution is when we
Speaker 3: announce it. So I I comment on speculation, Thanks very much,
Speaker 3: thank you.
Speaker 2: One labor I spoke with told me that he didn't
Speaker 2: think Michelle Roland was very happy with the way the
Speaker 2: Prime Minister responded to those questions. I think she was
Speaker 2: hoping that he would say something a bit more supportive
Speaker 2: that he would even be prepared to back the proposal,
Speaker 2: and their reading of it was, you know that the
Speaker 2: minister had gone out to stakeholders with a compromise that
Speaker 2: everyone was broadly comfortable with, and that Labor missed an
Speaker 2: opportunity to pass what would have been a significant reform
Speaker 2: that was in the public interest and that probably would
Speaker 2: have got a majority of voters on side.
Speaker 1: It is an interesting situation, though, because you have a
Speaker 1: committee that's looked at the evidence and said that what's
Speaker 1: needed is a ban for ads on online gambling. The
Speaker 1: government has opted not to do that, but instead there's
Speaker 1: this compromise that's been proposed, but then when the Prime
Speaker 1: Minister is asked about that, he won't commit to it.
Speaker 1: So what's going on here and why is this becoming
Speaker 1: such a sticking point?
Speaker 2: Great question, and I think you know, one gambling industry
Speaker 2: executive that I spoke to said that, in his view,
Speaker 2: they didn't really think that the government understood just how
Speaker 2: complex this issue was when they referred it to the inquiry,
Speaker 2: and they said they didn't think that the government really
Speaker 2: listened either to the industry representatives who appeared before that inquiry,
Speaker 2: including the sporting codes, the TV networks, even the gambling
Speaker 2: industry itself, who all told the MPs just how difficult
Speaker 2: it would be to implement a ban. And I think
Speaker 2: the key thing here is how to replace or what
Speaker 2: is considered this vital source of revenue that's keeping television
Speaker 2: networks alive.
Speaker 1: Right So where has all of this left the government, Jason?
Speaker 1: I mean, once the Prime Minister refused to back his
Speaker 1: own Communication Minister's proposal, did the possibility of reform die?
Speaker 2: Well? It certainly looks that way right now. I think
Speaker 2: it's left everyone feeling very frustrated. Each week that Parlam
Speaker 2: has sat since August, the Prime Minister has faced questions
Speaker 2: on this issue from not just the crossbench but the
Speaker 2: opposition as well. We saw Tasmanian Independent Andrew Wilkie come
Speaker 2: out on Thursday to call a government a disgrace.
Speaker 3: I have not seen a more egregious and shocking abandonment
Speaker 3: of the public interest than this government's refusal to implement
Speaker 3: a ban on gambling advertising.
Speaker 2: I think all of this has left members of the
Speaker 2: government feeling angry too. One senior Labour source told me
Speaker 2: that the whole thing has been very frustrating that they're
Speaker 2: still trying to deal with the unintended consequences for the networks.
Speaker 2: And I think the PM has tried to defend the
Speaker 2: government's record saying.
Speaker 3: We've done more in two years to tackle gambling hearts
Speaker 3: than has been done by any government since federation.
Speaker 2: And if you look at the list that the PM
Speaker 2: recites often in question time, things like establishing a mandatory
Speaker 2: customer ID verification for online gambling, forcing online gambling companies
Speaker 2: to send their customers monthly activity statements outlining wins and losses,
Speaker 2: and introducing new evidence based taglines in gambling ads, among
Speaker 2: other things. I do think maybe that the PM has
Speaker 2: a point the government hasn't done nothing, But I think
Speaker 2: for many people inside the government they think a lot
Speaker 2: of this debate is based on emotion, not hard evidence.
Speaker 1: Sure, but there is this distinct sense that you get
Speaker 1: that we aren't really getting the full picture as to
Speaker 1: what's happening behind the scenes, because if you look at
Speaker 1: you know, what's actually occurred. We've got a government saying
Speaker 1: that they don't want to act on gambling reform until
Speaker 1: an inquiry really properly looks into it. Then that happens
Speaker 1: They find that online gambling ads should be banned during
Speaker 1: sport and it's now been well over a year, closer
Speaker 1: to a year and a half since the government got
Speaker 1: those findings and they haven't responded. So bearing in mind
Speaker 1: what we know about the Prime minister's personal relationships, how
Speaker 1: should we be thinking about who the Albanezi government is
Speaker 1: really listening to when it comes to gambling reform.
Speaker 2: Well, I think Peter Landez said to the Prime Minister,
Speaker 2: don't do it, and he hasn't done it. He said
Speaker 2: it's going to be bad for the NRL, it's going
Speaker 2: to be bad for the AFL. But I think really
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister has three bad options. He can impose
Speaker 2: a full ban on gambling ads that will upset the
Speaker 2: sporting codes and the media, and six months out from
Speaker 2: an election he doesn't necessarily want to be doing that.
Speaker 2: He could implement the compromise proposal, and I think a
Speaker 2: majority of voters who say they want to complete ban
Speaker 2: on gambling ads probably aren't going to be happy with
Speaker 2: a partial ban. And then the other option, doing nothing
Speaker 2: is not really good for him either. The first anniversary
Speaker 2: of Peter Murphy's death is actually this week, the fourth
Speaker 2: of December, and while I think it's unlikely that the
Speaker 2: government will announce a decision on this issue, it's still
Speaker 2: possible Parliament's finish, but Cabinet will still meet right up.
Speaker 2: I think until the week before Christmas. This is something
Speaker 2: that has to go through cabinet, so I think it's
Speaker 2: still possible that the Prime Minister could surprise us and
Speaker 2: come out with the decision.
Speaker 1: Jason, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2: Thanks Ruby.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, an Israeli airstrike on a
Speaker 1: car in Gaza has reportedly killed five people, including aid
Speaker 1: workers from the organization World Central Kitchen. The RDF said
Speaker 1: one of the aid workers was a harmask terrorist, while
Speaker 1: the World's Central Kitchen said it had no knowledge that
Speaker 1: any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the
Speaker 1: October seven attacks. Earlier this year, Australian woman, Zombie Frankcom
Speaker 1: was also killed in an Israeli attack on a World
Speaker 1: Central Kitchen envoy in Gaza. And people suffering the debilitating
Speaker 1: effects of endometriosis will now be able to access the
Speaker 1: drug visan more easily. The government has announced it's adding
Speaker 1: the ENDO treatment to the pharmaceutical Benefit scheme. More than
Speaker 1: halving the cost. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.