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After more than 1,000 days without a response to the landmark Murphy report into the harms of online gambling, and growing pressure from advocates, experts, the crossbench and from within his own caucus, Anthony Albanese last week released his government’s response.

The prime minister’s response falls tragically short of the suite of measures Peta Murphy and her multi-party committee identified. These measures, implemented in full, could genuinely stop the harm that a deluge of gambling advertising is having, especially on children and young men. That is not what Albanese has announced.

In a country with the highest per capita gambling losses in the world, and where 75 per cent of young people now think gambling is a normal part of enjoying sport, we cannot celebrate tinkering. Because gambling ads work. What is being proposed is not evidence-based, and it will neither reverse the normalisation of gambling among young people nor stop the now widely held perception that gambling and sport are inseparable activities.

The Murphy report insisted on a full ban on gambling advertising and 30 other recommendations – such as establishing a national gambling regulator and banning inducements – for good reason. Gambling companies are predatory and innovative – history shows if you leave a loophole, they’ll exploit it.

All the evidence from public health experts like Prof Samantha Thomas at Deakin University, to the government’s own regulator, the ACMA, shows that partial bans do not work. Previous tweaks by the Coalition government around when ads could be shown led to more ads on TV and radio and, unfortunately, they ended up in spots that children were viewing.

As the Reverend Tim Costello said, we wouldn’t accept capping cigarette ads shown to children to three per hour so why would we say it’s ok for gambling ads?

For all the talk about how these reforms will stop gambling and sport from being linked, there is actually not a lot of change being made to make this happen. Save for the ban on jersey and stadium advertising, gambling companies will still be able to show an uncapped, unlimited number of ads after 8.30pm during a live broadcast. For a game that kicks off at 7.55 pm, that means for around half the game, fans and families will still be smashed by gambling ads.

With the biggest majority in the House of Representatives in our country’s history, and a Senate crossbench calling for stronger action, what excuse does the prime minister have for this weak response?

After four years in politics the answer seems depressingly simple. Once again vested interests have won out over community wellbeing. Gambling companies may cry foul but we mustn’t believe their self-serving spin. This package is weaker than the one proposed by the former communications minister Michelle Rowland two years ago – a package the prime minister reportedly stepped in to stop.

And the timing of this announcement speaks volumes. It was made the day after parliament finished, after live addresses by world leaders, and just as Australians were heading into the Easter long weekend with the fuel crisis and cost-of-living pressures on their minds. This is not an announcement the government wanted under scrutiny.

Over the past few years, a number of young people have pulled me aside at events to talk to me privately about gambling. They talk about the shame they feel about their addiction and how hard it is to deal with it when it’s so normalised in our culture and you’re facing a torrent of ads online and on social media, all while being offered inducements on betting apps.

Banning inducements was a central recommendation in the Murphy report, one which the report said should be actioned without delay three years ago because of how these “free bets” normalise gambling as a “risk free” activity among teenagers and young Australians and trap people into betting more than they usually would.

I’ll never forget the story of Kate from Western Australia, whose brother died by suicide due to a gambling addiction. He took his life after a $10,000 gambling debt. Gambling is fuelling the epidemic of male suicide. We aren’t doing enough to stop it. As the Australian Medical Association said, these reforms “fall short of protecting Australians from harm”.

This isn’t about stopping people from “having a punt” as Albanese loves to say. It’s about preventing the clear public health harm from gambling advertising that normalises this behaviour.

There are some positive measures in what the prime minister announced, even if it’s still unclear how some things will work in practice. A phaseout of ads on jerseys and in stadiums, and a ban on the use of celebrities and sports players in gambling ads are steps in the right direction. We should commend that progress. However, if the goal is to protect children and to decouple gambling from sport, these limits on TV, radio, streaming and online platforms aren’t the solution.

But the fight’s not over.

In the coming weeks we all have a responsibility to pressure the government to go further. To bring forward legislation that does what the Murphy review recommended. To subject the legislation to the scrutiny of a Senate committee inquiry and to stand up to the lobbying of Sportsbet, Sportsbet, Tabcorp and others who are already seeking to water down this weak package.

If you care about protecting people from gambling harm, if you want to see the ads stop – not just reduce in frequency, I urge you to get in touch with your local member of parliament. Write to the prime minister. Make your voice heard so we get the reform we actually need.