At the 26 July 2016 Council meeting, Council resolved to support my recommendation to sign an open letter in support of the gambling reform agenda proposed by Senator Nick Xenophon, Andrew Wilkie MP and the Alliance for Gambling Reform.
Monash Council is a current partner of the Alliance for Gambling Reform (Alliance) which campaigns for gambling legislation changes in the industry. The Alliance is a national collaboration of organisations with a shared concern about the harmful impacts of gambling in Australia. It is governed by a board which I chair. It seeks to campaign for reforms to the gambling industry to reduce poker machine-related harm and protect vulnerable communities from the increasing impacts of this harm as a consequence of more machines being moved into disadvantaged areas by the industry.
The mission of the Alliance aligns closely with and progresses components of the local government Enough Pokies campaign which was led by Monash Council in 2014.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform is concerned with the damage caused by predatory gambling in our clubs, pubs and sporting events and seeks the support of Alliance partners for this campaign.
The open letter advocates to Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten to:
- Introduce a ban on sports betting advertising during G-rated time periods;
- Establish a Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform to build on existing knowledge of the problems and solutions; and
- Introduce Legislation that limits poker machine harm to a maximum of $1 bet and maximum loss of $120 per hour.
The policy positions set out in points 2 and 3 above are consistent with the goals of the ‘Enough Pokies’ campaign, as well as the public health approach outlined in the Monash Council Gambling Policy Statement.
In relation to the first point relating to sports betting, concerns around sports betting have been raised a number of times in the past in the Monash Council chamber – in particular by Cr Davies who has identified this as an issue he would like to see a greater focus being placed upon by Council in its advocacy work. Given this prior interest among Monash councillors and given that sports betting is also a main priority for reform by the Alliance for Gambling Reform, it is quite appropriate for Council to also support and embrace this reform measure.
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