Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Gambling Regulation Amendment Bill 2023

Second reading

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

Instruction to committee

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Bev McArthur) (15:55): I have now considered the amendments circulated by Ms Payne, and in my view – I am reliably informed – these amendments are not within the scope of the bill. Therefore an instruction motion pursuant to standing order 14.11 is required. I remind the house that the instruction to committee is a procedural motion. I call on Ms Payne to move her instruction motion.

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:56): I move:

That it be an instruction to the committee that they have power to consider new clauses to amend the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 to prohibit gambling advertising at sporting grounds.

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (15:56): I thank Ms Payne for the intention that she has in relation to bringing this topic and her out-of-scope amendment to the chamber today. It will not surprise many people that were here in the previous term that it is not the government’s practice to endorse out-of-scope amendments by way of motion. There are many ways and avenues for members in this chamber to present ideas: through private members bills or through discussions with ministers’ offices about appropriate vessels to hitch amendments to. It is not my intention to draw too much onto the topic. It is an important topic that you raise, but the advice is that they are out of scope and therefore the government does not think it is appropriate to hitch it to this piece of legislation. Therefore we will not be supporting the instruction motion today.

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:57): The Liberal Democrats will be supporting the instruction motion, regardless of whether we support the amendments themselves, which I do not support. But I am happy to have that debate.

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:58): I am just acknowledging the Attorney-General’s comments and obviously understand that this motion is out of scope. However, harm reduction, particularly around gambling, is an important issue, and I do encourage other members of the chamber to make a contribution in that space.

Motion agreed to.

Committed.

Committee

Clauses 1 to 68 agreed to.

New clauses (16:01)

Rachel PAYNE: I move amendment 1 standing in my name:

1. Insert the following New Clauses to follow clause 68 –

‘68A Offence to display betting advertising in certain locations

(1) After section 4.7.1(1)(b) of the Principal Act insert –

“(ba) at a sporting ground; or”.

(2) In section 4.7.1(2) of the Principal Act, in paragraph (b) of the definition of static betting advertising, for “billboards” substitute “billboards, scoreboards”.

68B Exemptions

Section 4.7.1A(b)(iii) of the Principal Act is repealed.’.

David LIMBRICK: The Liberal Democrats will not be supporting this amendment. We believe that the person that should decide what goes on the scoreboard should be the owner of the scoreboard.

Jaclyn SYMES: I do want to thank Ms Payne for raising this important issue. It is a serious issue, and we in the government certainly recognise the proliferation of gambling advertising and the fact that it is out of step with community expectations, and we are of the view it contributes to gambling harm. It is important that due consideration be given to the issue of gambling advertising reform. It can be highly complex as it is likely to affect existing sponsorship arrangements and the like.

It would be a good time just to bring to the house’s attention some of the measures that the Victorian government has already taken in relation to ensuring that the community is not exposed to excessive gambling advertising, including banning static betting advertising within 150 metres of a school, on public transport infrastructure and on or above public roads, road reserves and road infrastructure. And we have certainly played a critical role in increasing protections for broadcast and online advertising through the national consumer protection framework for online wagering, including replacing ‘gamble responsibly’ with new evidence-based messages, enacting monthly activity statements so people can keep track of how much they are spending and giving consumers more opportunities to refuse to receive direct marketing.

So, again, Ms Payne, it is an important issue. It is a priority for the government. The minister has certainly spoken at length to colleagues on our side about this issue. I am sure she would be happy to speak further with you about it. But we are not in a position to support your amendment today. Notwithstanding there is further consideration and discussions available for topics such as this, but it is certainly not appropriate to deal with this issue through an amendment to the Gambling Regulation Amendment Bill 2023 when it is out of scope and not in line with what the intent of this bill is designed to do. We believe some further consideration in relation to the specifics of what you are trying to do needs a little bit more discussion.

Katherine COPSEY: As I stated in my contribution earlier, the Victorian Greens are supportive of the Legalise Cannabis amendment to this bill. We know that the community is extremely frustrated with the saturation of gambling advertising and believe that all steps should be taken to limit the exposure of the community to further gambling advertising.

Evan MULHOLLAND: I would like to thank Ms Payne for bringing the amendment forward, but the Liberals and Nationals will not be supporting the amendment. In line with what Ms Symes was saying, it is very much out of the scope of the intentions of the bill.

I would note that we do see the issues with gambling advertising and that it is not in line with community standards. I will note that it is the Liberals and Nationals federally that have proposed to ban gambling advertising, which they are responsible for, and I will note that around the country it has been the Liberal Party that has been quite forward leaning on these issues, but the Liberals and Nationals will not be supporting this amendment.

New clauses negatived.

Clauses 69 to 92 agreed to.

Reported to house without amendment.

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (16:07): I move:

That the report be now adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report adopted.

Third reading

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (16:08): I move:

That the bill be now read a third time.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Pursuant to standing order 14.28, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council have agreed to the bill without amendment.