Greens senator Sarah Hanson‑Young has called the government’s proposal to let Australians opt out of all online gambling advertisements “a smokescreen” that fails to acknowledge how the internet operates.
The Labor‑led bipartisan deal, introduced last week, would create a single‑stop “opt‑out” register for gambling ads displayed across the web. However, the legislation provides no clear mechanism for how such a register could be enforced online, Hanson‑Young said.
In an interview with the ABC’s 7 Mietten on Monday, the Greens senator criticised the register as “a theory that doesn’t work” and a “smokescreen” that simply masks the absence of any stronger regulatory alternative.
Hanson‑Young notedásticas that the government had rejected a model that would require Australians to opt in to seeing gambling adverts, a system that would effectively ban such ads. “If you want to protect people from gambling advertising, an opt‑in system would be a much stronger approach,” she said.
ट्रेड Hanson‑Young also said the proposal is an attempt by Labor to appease the Liberal Party and maintain bipartisan support for the bill. “There are good people in the Liberal Party who want a stricter law. They are just being ignored,” she added.
The senator further suggested the idea of a blanket opt‑out is driven by a lack of understanding of how the internet works. “It’s a silly policy that comes from people-sort of colleagues—perhaps it comes from Angus Taylor or the prime minister—who simply don’t grasp how the internet functions,” she said.
Labor Governor hopes to secure passage of the reform this week, with claimed “good people in the Liberal Party” supporting it. However, Greens opposition suggests that the proposal does not provide a robust role for Australians to control exposure to gambling advertising.
