Mm.

And, uh, I was actually with Neil Lawrence, who sadly died at 60.

He, he came up with the Kevin 07 campaign.

He was a brilliant advertiser, and we were defending Gillard's mandatory pre-commitment card when she literally as prime minister rang me in Martin Place in Sydney and said, "I just cannot withstand the pressure.

It's the Alan Jones, and it's the hotels, the New South Wales clubs.

They've basically intimidated Labor backbenchers."

Mm.

Uh, and now we're seeing those nativist movements that are retribalizing, particularly around resentment, grievance.

Do any of them, and I'll go specifically to them, but do any of them change the picture for people at risk or help?

help?Uh, no, they don't really.

Um, basically what we've seen is, uh, an opt-out register.

That will be a world first, and, uh, we simply can't understand how it can be implemented, how, uh, the, the platforms, uh, when you register will be told you've got to actually block the ads.

We just don't understand.

This world first, not happening anywhere else in the world, [laughs] and even the government admitting it won't be ready by twel- uh, July next year when these, all the, the bill's meant to come into, uh, into law.

Uh, look, the inducements, the, the person who is betting $10 suddenly gets fif- 'cause they're losing $50 free money in their account still will get them.

Is that kind of proactive obligation being forced on the companies significant? Will it, will it do more than, you know, any of the ad changes we're gonna talk about in a minute?

Have I got that right so far, Reverend Tim Costello? Welcome back.

So good to be with you, yes.

So many of the gambling industry, sadly even the Prime Minister, have tried to frame me up as anti-gambling.

Part of the problem, I think, is I have a reverend in front of my name.

Therefore, I must be anti-gambling.

My grandfather was a cockatoo on the lookout for an SP bookie, and my father could always pick a winner at the races.

I never give up with any problem with this.

strict dress code, yep.

Mm

... consensus? And very, very simply, uh, the, the recommendations were a national regulator.

It defies belief to say we do not have a national regulator.

It's a Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission that's the de facto regulator.

Uh, this bill doesn't have a national regulator.

Secondly, [laughs] phased-in ban on gambling ads over three years.

Um, this bill doesn't have that.

Mm.

On the Senate inquiry itself, what have we heard so far, and have you been shocked by the scope of some of these incidents?

Yes, I was there yesterday, and I was absolutely devastated by what I heard, and that's saying something 'cause I've been arguing for gambling reform for [chuckles] nearly 30 years.

But I was found it absolutely devastating.

The stories that came out from people with lived experience, Luke Bateman has had the most publicity, former NRL player.

I was personally profoundly shocked by that, but he wasn't alone.

The other lived experience people who gave, uh, testimony yesterday and the same refrain of these inducements when they tried to stop, many stories about people being offered whatever they wanted to keep gambling was devastating.

Devastating because a number of them spoke of their suicidality.

What would the sporting bodies, where would they have to go? Like, they don't have much of an option to not comply with them.

So what do you make of that?

What I make of that is that when effectively the gambling industry, and when we're talking NRL and AFL in Australia, each getting now $50 million from the gambling industry for their codes, the effectiveness has been our much beloved sports, AFL-NRL.

You know, the kids' heroes when they watch.

Has been the Trojan horse for the massive expansion of profits of foreign multinational online bookies.

Sportsbet.

Bet365.

They literally have taken over our sport.

Can we... do without that revenue when the clubs will tell you that they because of that revenue they're able to build better clubs accommodate more people in the community and spend that money on local charities and sporting clubs

you, isn't it? They did wimp out, didn't they?

Yes, sadly, they did.

They took three years of betting on us.

Unfortunately, only... a table in Parliament on Budget Day when all the journos were in the locker.

Look, Peter Murphy, who was the Labour backbencher, was joined by Libs, Nats, Independents, Greens, in a unanimous recommendation to ban the gambling ads, to have a national regulator, to once and for all deal with what is Australia's blind spot.

If America's is guns, and it is, Ours is gambling.

The rest of the world simply can't believe we have the greatest losses on the arm.

And that's probably a fair comment, isn't it?

isn't it? They did wimp out, didn't they?

Yes, sadly, they did.

They took three years of betting on us.

Unfortunately, only a table in Parliament on Budget Day when all the journos were in the locker.

Look, Peter Murphy, who was the Labour backbencher, was joined by Libs, Nats, Independents, Greens in a unanimous recommendation to ban the gambling ads, to have a national regulator, to once and for all deal with what is Australia's blind spot.

If America's is guns, and it is, ours is gambling.

The rest of the world simply can't believe we have the greatest losses on the arm.

And that's probably a fair comment, isn't it?

isn't it? They did wimp out, didn't they?

Yes, sadly, they did.

They took three years of betting on us, Unfortunately, only a table in Parliament on Budget Day when all the journos were in the locker.

Look, Peter Murphy, who was the Labour backbencher, was joined by Libs, Nats, Independents, Greens in a unanimous recommendation to ban the gambling ads, to have a national regulator, to once and for all deal with what is Australia's blowing spot.

If America's is guns, and it is, ours is gambling.

The rest of the world simply can't believe we have the greatest losses on the arm.

And sadly, they went with half measures.

And that's probably a fair comment, isn't

What do you make of the government deciding to table its response to Peter Murphy's report today?

Well, I think the Prime Minister would say that he promised to table it, uh, the first day of the next parliament sitting, which I think is today.

But look, it was announced the day before Good Friday when, uh, the main speech at the Press Club was about the Middle East-Iran war.

Uh, we've had over a thousand days of silence.

We do have a very timid package, and for it not to be, uh, when it's tabled today, examined by journalists when, uh, I think this is one of the most profound intergenerational issues that, uh, Australia is facing.

Why? Because, uh, some six hundred thousand twelve to seventeen-year-olds gambled last year, though it's illegal.

That's thirty percent of our teenagers gambled.

Do you anticipate the tabled response will include further action, or have we heard all of the government's response so far?