“The reality is that the Albanese Labor government does not really want gambling reform and the Liberals would prefer it if it was not on the agenda,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

The major political parties are banking on brinkmanship when it comes to gambling reform.

The reality is that the Albanese Labor government does not really want gambling reform and the Liberals would prefer it if it was not on the agenda.

However, the Peta Murphy report has embarrassed the government into taking some action.

The downside for Labor (and to a lesser extent for the Liberals) is the considerable donations they receive from gambling. This has certainly long been the case for poker machines and the Labor Party in Canberra – whether the funds come directly or indirectly.

No-one really wants to compromise. The vigorous questioning in the Senate Committee by ACT independent David Pocock and the Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young represents the reality of community concerns.

Compromise on this issue by the Liberals and Labor should be a thing of the past. When the late Peta Murphy, as chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, tabled the You Win Some, You Lose More report, the compromises had already been made.

Making compromises is at the heart of the work of parliamentary committees. So why didn’t the government accept the compromises and implement the 31 recommendations in the report that were designed to reduce harm?

This highlights one of the great challenges of politics as framed by Voltaire in the 1770s when he interpreted an Italian proverb as “Il meglio è l’inimico del bene”, which loosely translates “perfection is the enemy of progress”.

Perhaps the real problem lies with the huge donations received by political parties from the gambling industry. Daniel Saeed, writing in Crikey in February, explained: “Betting giants have long spearheaded campaigns to influence the government against implementing gambling advertising reform, which was a key recommendation of the 2023 Murphy report.”

The search for perfection is often at the heart of the failure to compromise. In politics it can also be used as a tool to undermine progress.

The gambling lobby, represented by groups such as the ironically named Responsible Wagering Australia, put a huge effort into influencing governments so that their profits are not undermined.

The art of such lobbyists is to put roadblocks in the way of government reform and, at the very least, cause delay.

The current Senate inquiry is into the bill that was supposedly tabled to implement the Murphy Report recommendations. The frustration of the crossbench senators at the current inquiry is clear. The legislation does not do enough.

The debate over gambling advertising is reminiscent of similar debates regarding tobacco advertising decades ago. To overcome the resistance of those who benefitted from the revenue, governments developed Health Promotion Organisations such as Healthpact in the ACT and VicHealth in Victoria.

These organisations across Australia supported those that would have lost revenue when tobacco advertising was shut down. They funded healthier messages at arts venues, as well as in the media and sporting clubs. Recommendation 4 of the Murphy report outlines a similar approach.

According to a poll conducted by the Australia Institute: “Three in four Australians (77 per cent) would support a ban on gambling advertisements”. 

Like tobacco, the aim should be to start with advertising and move further to reduce the harm associated with gambling

Dr Marisa Paterson, who completed a PhD on gambling in remote indigenous communities, is the ACT Minister responsible. She has been a passionate advocate to put an end to gambling advertising. Of course, this largely falls outside her jurisdiction as it is a federal responsibility. 

She updated the Gambling Harm Prevention and Mitigation Fund Guidelines in 2025 arguing: “We are ensuring that revenue from gaming machines is reinvested into projects that actively reduce the harm those machines can cause”.

Dr Paterson saw the reduction in the number of poker machines by about 30 per cent up to July 2025 as a voluntary surrender project by the ACT government established in 2018. It has left the ACT with around 3500 poker machines. The next goal has been set to reduce the number of poker machines to 1000 by 2045.

This is such a long-term step for a passionate advocate and the minister responsible for reducing gambling harm. In marked contrast to the questioning by Senator David Pocock, Dr Paterson is bound by cabinet solidarity and the constraints of the Labor Party machine.

Voltaire is also interpreted as “perfection is the enemy of the good”. This needs to be kept in mind in the case of gambling, and in so much of politics.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006

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