Doorstop, Parliament House, Canberra

JOURNALIST: This has been a very long-awaited reform to the gambling laws, advocates have called for it for years – why now?

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS ANIKA WELLS: We were able to get all the stars to align. As you yourself note, this is an area where people have firm and deeply held views on all sides, and there are lots of different parties who want to contribute. That’s why I believe where we’ve landed today strikes the right balance between Australians having the right to like a punt and Australians wanting to shield Australian children from the kind of saturation and targeting of gambling advertising that they have been experiencing since COVID.

JOURNALIST: Peta Murphy’s report was broader than just what was announced today. The PM’s flagged there’s going to be a formal response to that in Parliament, I think, when the Budget’s handed down. Should we expect further measures in that?

WELLS: No. The PM’s announced today what the Government response to both the You Win Some, Lose More report is and, more broadly, things that have happened in that space since then. You would have seen, for example, we are banning online Keno entirely – that’s those really nefarious “pocket pokies”. And we only got that report a couple of months ago.

So in some ways, the Government response does not address all the 31 recommendations of the You Win Some, Lose More report. But in some ways the Government response goes further, particularly with respect to online Keno and with respect to school drop-off pickup and radio ads.

JOURNALIST: Minister, people can still have a punt without gambling advertising, as people do still smoke cigarettes without smoking advertising. What do you say to suggestions that this is just about propping up gambling companies?

WELLS: Well, you would have seen that, not just wagering companies but free TV broadcasts, have noted today that the reforms that we have handed down will have a significant financial impact to their bottom line. That’s why this is about striking a balance. And we really have tried to see this through the lens of what do Australians want.

They want to be able to enjoy their sport, they want to be able to enjoy their TV, they want to be able to break the nexus between wagering and sports so that kids don’t watch their preferred code, whatever that is, and assume that the only way to enjoy it is with wagering alongside that.

So, reducing the ads, making a complete ban for under-18s and, for over-18s, opt-out capacity, reducing the ads and banning them entirely for live sport coverage – really significant and meaningful progress in this space.

JOURNALIST: Advocates have reacted not particularly – they’re not particularly thrilled with the reforms that have been announced today. Tim Costello has called it “timid”, others have said “it’s big on talk, small on substance”. Can I just get your response to people who don’t think you’ve gone far enough with these reforms?

WELLS: Tim Costello is going to have his view, as is wagering companies, as is broadcast television, as is the sporting codes themselves. I think it gives you an insight into the diversity of views that we have navigated to land what we have landed today – a sensible centrist solution that is meaningful and significant reform. I’d also point to the statement put out by Peta Murphy’s widow, Rod Glover, who said that Peta would be really proud of the progress we’ve made today.