Emma Rebellato:
Well, let’s get more now on the government’s gambling legislation and bring in government frontbencher Anne Aly from Parliament House. Anne, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
Anne Aly:
Thank you.
Rebellato:
Is it inevitable the government will have to make amendments to the gambling legislation?
Aly:
Look, I don’t think so. I think these are the strongest reforms that any government has taken around gambling. I know the Minister for Communications responsible for this, Minister Anika Wells, is committed to gambling reform, as is our Prime Minister and our entire caucus. It is a big task to take on. Australia, you know, having a flutter or whatever it’s called – I don’t gamble so I don’t know – having a flutter is really part of, Australian culture, it’s part of what we do. So this is difficult reform, but it’s reform that we need to undertake.
Rebellato:
Well, David Pocock wants a complete ban on gambling ads on TV and radio. He says no parent wants to see their kids being exposed to this. Are you comfortable with kids still seeing these ads?
Aly:
Look, I think what we’re doing, is undertaking the biggest suite of gamble reforms that any government has ever undertaken. Even to this day, even before these reforms, there were a lot of things that we did to tackle harmful gambling and to tackle gambling addiction.
Rebellato:
Your colleague Labor MP Mike Freelander views the advertising restrictions as a first step, that there’s more to be done. Do you think it’s a first step, that you can go further down the track?
Aly:
There’s always more than we can do. And we’re not a government that sits still. We’re a government that undertakes action, and that keeps on moving. Whether it’s in terms of raising wages for minimum wage workers that we’ve done – ever since we’ve come into office in 2022, whether it’s tax cuts for Australians that we’ve consecutively delivered since we’ve been in office in 2022. Whether it’s gambling reform, we understand that there’s always more that we can do. But we also understand, and the Prime Minister iterates this consistently, that governments do not stand still, that if you stand still the world will pass you by. So of course, there’s always more that we can do, and we’re always looking to the future and looking at what we can do to serve Australia in the best way that we possibly can.
Rebellato:
You said that gambling, having a punt, having a flutter, is part of Australian culture. But we lose more per capita on gambling than any other country. Surely that is not a culture that we want here?
Aly:
No, I don’t gamble. It’s not part of, my cultural heritage, if I can say that. And I agree with you – I think that problem gambling is an issue. And I think we need to distinguish here between gambling that is a flutter or something that people do on occasion, that is part of a sporting event or whatever. And I think the issue here is that we tackle problem gambling.
Rebellato:
I want to ask you about – you are the Minister for Small Business. The minimum wage has gone up on July 1. Do you think small businesses can afford to pay that?
Aly:
I think small businesses know that when they want to attract and keep good workers, which is something that they say to me. Every small business that I visit that employs people – let’s remember that small business also includes sole traders – but every business that we have that employs people wants to attract and wants to keep good people. And they know that paying them fairly, particularly those on minimum wage, is part of that.
The other side of that is that when people, particularly those on minimum wage, do get a wage boost, they’re going to spend that, and they’re more likely to spend that in those small businesses than people who are on higher wages. The research bears that out.
Rebellato:
As the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, I’d like to ask you about the royal commission that’s taking place into antisemitism and social cohesion. We’ve heard some pretty distressing evidence over the past few days, in particular. Yesterday, there was a comment that Elon Musk is partly to blame for anti‑Jewish hatred on his social media platform X. Do you think he’s partly to blame?
Aly:
Well, I know that my colleague Josh Burns talked about this. And I had a chat to him because I know what it’s like to have to give testimony when you are consistently and relentlessly receiving hatred, racism and harassment. The first thing I want to do is to say that for all of those who gave a testament, just to thank them but also to reach out in understanding of how retraumatising and how difficult it can be.
I agree with my colleague Josh Burns that social media has a huge part to play here. I would go so far as to say it is a cesspool when it comes to expressions of hatred, division, racism, antisemitism and, again, racism and misogynistic language in all its forms. I think that social media companies have a responsibility. We’ve done so much in terms of keeping children safe. I think social media companies have a responsibility, but I also want to reach out to all the adults in the room, too, that we also have a responsibility. Every single person has a responsibility to, as the Prime Minister would say, take the temperature down but also to ensure that when we get online, what we’re saying is not just words, they have consequences, and they have impact.
Rebellato:
And when it comes to the digital world, there’s been a lot of concern about artificial intelligence. We saw yesterday a lot of creatives, writers, artists went to Canberra yesterday. They don’t want any changes to copyright laws. They’re worried about AI and their creative work being mined to help train AI. Can you guarantee the government won’t be changing its copyright laws, that their work will still be protected?
Aly:
Well, this is a matter for the Attorney‑General and other relevant ministers. And I’ve also met with artists who are concerned about AI and copyright laws. I’ve written a number of books as an author, so I share concerns about copyright laws. I speak to creatives in the design – yarn design area – who are also worried about copyright laws. I think people have a right to have some assurance that the work that we put into creating, whether it’s writing a book, whether it’s a song, whether it’s a design, that our creativity and the work that we put into that, that that’s protected.
Rebellato:
Before I let you go, speaking of design, the Midwinter Ball was on last night. Everyone got glammed up to raise money for charity. And you did some designing for this. And we’re going to show now some of our viewers what – you made your outfit.
Aly:
I am a crocheter, so I want to say a big shoutout to all the yarn community out there, from the growers to the producers, to the people who dye the yarn and to those who continue to supply and stock quality yarn. Thank you so much for allowing me to express my creativity.
Rebellato:
It was absolutely spectacular. Anne Aly, thank you very much for your time this morning.
Aly:
Thank you.