Ross Solly:
Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner and he joins us this morning. Andrew Leigh, thanks for joining us.
Andrew Leigh:
Always a pleasure Ross, great to be with you.
Solly:
Are you comfortable, Andrew Leigh, with where we’ve landed with the gambling laws in the end?
Leigh:
Ross, it’s the biggest crackdown on gambling ads that we’ve had in Australian history –
Solly:
But does it go far enough, Andrew Leigh? Do you feel personally, as a man who’s very concerned about social media, as a man who’s concerned about what’s being forced down our throats on a daily basis. You and I have talked about this many, many times. We share concerns in this area, do you think we could have gone and should have gone further?
Leigh:
Ross, this package is huge. Most of the focus has been on what people would like us to do beyond the package and that, I think, has been unfortunate because it’s taken away the focus from what this package actually does.
Solly:
What do you mean it was unfortunate? Because people have genuine concerns, Andrew Leigh. People are worried that this is not going to stop the scourge of, you know, being bombarded with ads and people getting hooked into gambling and not being able to get out of it?
Leigh:
Well, Ross, it’s meant that people have not necessarily been taken through the detail of what this package involves. So, we’ve got a ban on direct marketing and inducements for 14 days after signing up. You’ve got the ad stop platform, which will operate a bit like the ‘Do Not Call Register’. You’ve got banning commissions to staff based on customer activity.
And then you’ve got a significant crackdown on ads. And so that crackdown on ads means that you don’t have gambling ads during live sport. It also goes to the way in which people see gambling labels in stadiums and on jerseys. This will have a significant impact on the revenue of sporting clubs. We make no apology for doing that in the interests of cracking down on problem gambling.
Solly:
So, do you think you’ve got the balance right, Andrew Leigh?
Leigh:
We do. This is an important package. This is a historic package. There is a significant reduction in gambling ads on online platforms. There’s restrictions on gambling ads on radio. There’s further restrictions on gambling ads on free‑to‑air TV. There’s crackdown on inducements, there’s a crackdown on gambling ads on jerseys and gambling ads in the stands. No government before has taken action of this scale to crack down on gambling ads. This will have a significant impact.
Solly:
What do you think your friend Peta Murphy, who’s no longer with us, what would she think about this, do you think? Because yesterday your colleague Alicia Payne on Drive said that she would have liked all the 32 recommendations implemented. Obviously, I think there’s only been about 4. What do you think she would think about how you’ve handled this, Andrew Leigh?
Leigh:
So, I first met Peta when the 2 of us were whippersnapper Labor advisers in 1999. An extraordinary woman, super sporty, passionately committed to making a difference and somebody who, I think never would have allowed the perfect to be the enemy of the good. We should always be incredibly careful in terms of making guesses as to how someone who’s now left us would have felt about a particular reform. Her husband, Rod Glover, would be the person who’d be best placed to speak to that.
Solly:
Well, you personally knew her though, as you say?
Leigh:
I knew her. I considered her a mate for the quarter century that we knew one another. And I know that she was somebody who would always have preferred some reform to no reform. The idea that we simply wash our hands of this issue, walk away, do nothing, I think is untenable. I think Peta would have been pleased to see progress and I would leave it to those closer to her to answer the specifics of your question which is a deeply personal one.
Solly:
Okay. On the NDIS, it looks like it’s passed through the Senate now. I guess that now means, Andrew Leigh, it’s over to the states and the territories to pick up now and to take over their role. I know you’ve had conversations here with the ACT Government. You’ve also heard feedback from other states and territories who are a bit concerned that they’re going to be left on the hook for this. How is it going to work? And what do you say to people who today are all waking up to this news and think, ‘Oh my God, does this mean that I’m suddenly going to be kicked off the NDIS?’
Leigh:
Look, this is a measured package which is about curtailing the growth in spending of the NDIS. This is a program which is now costing us about as much as the Age Pension and is forecast to be costing us twice the Age Pension in decades if we didn’t act. We have acted in order to secure the NDIS for people with disabilities and their families. I came into parliament in the term in which Labor legislated the NDIS. I’ve seen what the system was like before it, I know how valuable it is for the community. And the ACT Government has signed on to that national agreement on foundational supports and it is committed to working with the federal government in order to provide that additional role. The scheme was always envisaged as one in which the states and territories would be co‑stewards of the scheme and they’re all committed to that through that agreement.
Solly:
Alright. It has been a busy couple of days. Another day of sitting today of course. Andrew Leigh, appreciate your time. Thank you.
Leigh:
Thanks Ross.
Solly:
That’s Dr Andrew Leigh – he is the Labor Member for Fenner.