{"id":954291,"date":"2026-05-12T07:01:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/954291\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T07:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:01:20","slug":"government-accused-of-burying-response-to-landmark-gambling-report-with-budget-day-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/954291\/","title":{"rendered":"Government accused of ‘burying’ response to landmark gambling report with budget day release"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long-awaited response to an inquiry that called for a gambling advertising ban has been tabled on budget day, prompting accusations the government is trying to bury the document.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The official government response outlines a package of gambling reforms announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month but ignores a key recommendation for a national online gambling regulator.<\/p>\n

Under his reform package, gambling ads would be partially restricted on television and radio, with opt-out rules for online promotions and a ban on putting ads in stadiums and on sports jumpers.<\/p>\n

“These reforms get the balance right,” Mr Albanese told parliament shortly before the release of the report.<\/p>\n

“So children don’t grow up thinking sport and gambling are inextricably linked, but letting adults have a punt if they want to.”<\/p>\n

It has been more than 1,000 days since the late Labor MP Peta Murphy handed down a landmark parliamentary report on gambling reform in June 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Key among her 31 recommendations was a call for a “comprehensive” ban on online gambling advertising.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also sought to prohibit so-called “online gambling inducements and inducement advertising” and introduce more oversight through a national regulator and an ombudsman.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Alliance for Gambling Reform advocate Mark Kempster said the federal governmment was not doing enough to prevent harm. (ABC News: Cameron Atkins)<\/p>\n

Alliance for Gambling Reform advocate Mark Kempster said his 10-year addiction cost him over $100,000 and relationships.<\/p>\n

He said gambling ads had a “huge effect” on his habits and he was disappointed by the government’s package responding to Ms Murphy’s report.<\/p>\n

“For me, I’ve lost all hope in the government trying to do the right thing,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“Yes, they have put a few good measures in what they have announced around getting rid of some of the advertising in stadium and jerseys, but I gave evidence at Peta Murphy’s inquiry and I can’t see how they can turn their back on what she proposed.”<\/p>\n

Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie accused the government of putting the commercial interests of the gambling, sporting and media companies ahead of the public interest.<\/p>\n

“This is shameful behaviour,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Even if implementing all 31 recommendations was too much for the government, there is no conceivable excuse for not implementing at least the gambling advertising ban and establishing an effective national regulator.”<\/p>\n

Kai Cantwell, who is chief executive of Responsible Wagering Australia, the peak body for the gambling industry, said a key detail about the rollout of “the most significant gambling restrictions in decades” was missing.<\/p>\n

“These are major, costly reforms that require significant operational changes and wagering, racing, sport, broadcasters and online platforms urgently need clarity ahead of the 1 January 2027 start date,” he said.<\/p>\n

Timing ‘the height of political cynicism’<\/p>\n

The timing of today’s formal response has attracted criticism, with independent MP Monique Ryan suggesting the government was working to bury it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Monique Ryan criticised the delay with the government’s reply to the report. (ABC News: Matthew Holmes)<\/p>\n

“The PM has been dragged kicking and screaming to respond this report,” Dr Ryan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Burying the response on the day of the federal budget is the height of political cynicism.<\/p>\n

“We’ve all waited over 1,000 days for the government’s response to the Murphy report.”<\/p>\n

The “interesting” timing also raised an eyebrow for Shadow Finance Minister Clare Chandler.<\/p>\n

Senator Chandler pointed out the government’s formal response was being released while many of the people who would usually scrutinise it were tied up inside the budget lock-up.<\/p>\n

Trash or treasure? Albanese’s big gamble<\/a><\/p>\n

Labor still has to figure out how to deliver its chosen gambling reforms and the stakes couldn’t be higher.<\/p>\n

“I wonder if there’s anything that the government is trying to hide there,” she said.<\/p>\n

“That is intriguing timing from the government.”<\/p>\n

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler defended the government’s response to Ms Murphy’s report, pointing to the package of reform announced by the prime minister on the eve of Good Friday.<\/p>\n

“The prime minister outlined, since the parliament last sat, a very strong response to that [report], building on the strongest action that any government had taken, which is the action we’ve been taking over the last four years,” Mr Butler told ABC News Breakfast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Mark Butler defended the government’s response to the report. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

When asked whether tabling the response in the midst of the budget lock-up could give the impression the government was trying to bury it, Mr Butler rejected the suggestion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I don’t think someone can make the criticism that we’ve been hiding that response,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“The prime minister went down to the Press Club and made a televised speech about it.”<\/p>\n

‘Most significant reform’<\/p>\n

At the time of unveiling his reform plan last month, Mr Albanese described that package as “the most significant reform on gambling that has ever been implemented”.<\/p>\n

“It was announced the day before Good Friday, when the main speech at the press club was about the Middle East-Iran war,” gambling reform advocate Tim Costello today told RN Breakfast.<\/p>\n

Gambling helplines:<\/p>\n

When announced, the reforms left critics cold, with accusations the government was falling short of the bar set by Peta Murphy.<\/p>\n

Mr Costello accepted there was some good work being done in the government’s reform package, particularly around banning gambling advertising on sporting jumpers and in stadiums.<\/p>\n

But he said he called for it to go significantly further, with the creation of a national gambling regulator, a ban on inducements and a total ban on gambling advertising was needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/p>\n

Tim Costello says gambling is “one of the most profound intergenerational issues that Australia is facing”. (ABC News: Stephen Cavenagh)<\/p>\n

“This is one of the most profound intergenerational issues that Australia is facing,” Mr Costello said.<\/p>\n

Dr Ryan said after a 1,000-day wait on the formal response, \u00a0the government would risk losing public trust if it didn’t include additional reform.<\/p>\n

“It will be a betrayal of the trust of the millions of people who have waited far too long for this response,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The government must address the report’s unanimous recommendations for an effective national regulator and a full ban on gambling advertising.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A long-awaited response to an inquiry that called for a gambling advertising ban has been tabled on budget…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[6929,6732,266361,105,218,177758,53230,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-954291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-federal-government","9":"tag-gambling","10":"tag-gambling-inquiry","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-peta-murphy","14":"tag-pokies","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116560324807302892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}