Gambling Advertising

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:34): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes the Malinauskas government has returned train services to public ownership;

2. Recognises that public trains, buses, and trams are key spaces where children, young people, and other vulnerable individuals are regularly exposed to advertising;

3 Recognises that the availability, exposure and accessibility of gambling products can either exacerbate or mitigate gambling harm, and that restricting advertising can help minimise this risk;

4. Notes the recent commitment of the New South Wales government to ban gambling advertising on state-owned and controlled assets, including internal and external advertising on trains, buses, trams and associated infrastructure, following a broader ban introduced by the Victorian government in 2017;

5. Acknowledges that reducing gambling advertising would have positive social and economic benefits for the South Australian community; and

6. Calls on the Malinauskas government to take decisive action to reduce gambling harm by banning gambling advertising on public transport spaces across South Australia.

This speech really could have written itself off the back of a Malinauskas government press release and a policy which followed it. I will read from that initial press release which welcomes the banning of junk food advertising:

The Malinauskas Labor Government is taking action to tackle obesity by becoming the first State to ban junk food advertising on public buses, trains and trams.

From 1 July 2025, images of unhealthy products such as chocolate, lollies, confectionary, desserts, ice creams, soft drinks and chips will not be permitted on Adelaide Metro buses, trains and trams.

Obesity has overtaken tobacco as the leading risk factor contributing to disease burden in Australia. In 2024, overweight and obesity attributed to the burden of over 30 diseases and accounted for 8.3 percent of total disease burden in Australia.

These are all very important figures. It continues:

Around 63.1 per cent of adults and 35.2 per cent of children across South Australia are overweight or obese.

Modelling indicates that if no action is taken, the number of South Australians living with overweight or obesity is expected to grow by an additional 1,900 children and 48,000 adults over the next five years…

South Australian children are regularly exposed to unhealthy food and drink advertising. Data from Cancer Council SA shows that almost 80 per cent of food and drink advertisements on South Australian buses promote unhealthy food and drinks.

This new policy—

of the Malinauskas Labor government—

demonstrates the government’s commitment to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising on assets it manages and owns. The government will be considering additional measures to further respond to this public health issue in 2025.

If we take that, in terms of the evidence-based policy which has come from this measure which we have supported, and apply that equally to gambling advertising, you will find many of the same benefits for our community. The policy statement on food and drink advertising that the government has come up with could just as easily apply to the harm that is caused by gambling in this state and indeed across the nation.

Whilst we commend the government 100 per cent for its move in terms of banning junk food advertising, I am pleading with them to take the precise same measure in relation to gambling advertising, given that our trams, trains and buses have been the subject of lots of discussion lately in terms of coming back into government hands.

I think this is a very timely move and also follows on from a very similar recent announcement of the Minns government, which in January of this year announced the state's move to ban gambling advertising on public transport in New South Wales. That ban would apply to publicly owned and controlled assets, including internal and external advertising on trains, Metro buses, light rail, train stations and ferry terminals. The ban in New South Wales extends to the casino, lottery, online betting advertising—in effect, all forms of gambling advertising. The New South Wales government will now work with those contract holders in terms of advertising to implement the required changes over the coming 12 months.

It also follows an earlier move in 2017 by Victoria to do precisely the same and that was part of sweeping reforms to tackle poker machine harm specifically in that jurisdiction, but of course included the banning of advertising on trams, trains and buses, etc., in that state. So whilst we are leading the nation in terms of our junk food advertising ban here in SA, I am pleading with this government, and indeed this chamber, to support this motion which would make us the third state behind Victoria and New South Wales to do precisely the same when it comes to gambling advertising harm.

I do not need to repeat the fact that I have repeated in this place over and over again in terms of the harm that is caused as a result of gambling. Again, if we just take from those messages that have been repeated by the government here and in Victoria and, indeed, New South Wales in relation to the benefits of these bans, we do not need our public assets covered in gambling-related advertising. It is just not necessary. Everyone knows where the Casino is, if that is where they choose to go. You cannot miss a poker machine venue in this state for the love of anything really. The signs are so big and in your face—the big neon lights and signs and so forth.

We know that this government has had a reluctance to do anything about it because of its own addiction to the extraordinary revenue that we reap from poker machines in this state. Of course I am not just talking about poker machines; I am talking about all forms of gambling advertising. We know the sorts of campaigns that have been led in terms of online betting advertising that is just about everywhere now, and I note that there is another bill before this place to deal with that.

I would hasten to say that the preventative health portfolio of the honourable health minister probably thinks that this is a good fit in terms of the support for banning gambling advertising, given that we know that there are very similar impacts and serious impacts on people's health and wellbeing as a result of gambling. We just do not need them and there is absolutely no reason why the government should be accepting money, payment, from those who promote gambling on its public assets.

I will keep it short today. I think it is very self-explanatory. I think if anyone picks up the government's media release dated Saturday 4 January by the Hon. Chris Picton where it says 'Bus stops here for junk food advertising', wherever you see 'junk food advertising' replace it with 'gambling advertising'. I think if you pick up the policy document that accompanies that media release by the government of South Australia, also dated 25 January, 'Restriction of unhealthy food and drink advertising on South Australian government transit assets', again, under policy statement, background, policy goal, policy objectives, policy directive and policy approach, just replace the words 'junk food advertising' with 'gambling advertising' and the logic in this motion will speak for itself.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.