A Liberal moderate who was part of a bipartisan parliamentary committee that urged the federal government to adopt a total ban on gambling advertising has paid for campaign material, stating he was “proud to” do so, inadvertently highlighting different policy positions within the Coalition.
The Coalition has resisted calls from advocates to take a policy to the election that would ban gambling advertising outright, instead pledging to ban “gambling ads one hour before, during and one hour after live sports broadcasts”.
Keith Wolahan’s Facebook ads described the Coalition’s proposal as “an important first step” towards achieving a total ban.
The ads coincide with ads from Cronulla-based MP, Simon Kennedy, who has described the amount of gambling content viewed by children as “unacceptable” and attacked Labor’s record.
Liberal MP Jenny Ware, who has also supported a total ban, confirmed she was planning to launch campaign ads on gambling in the coming weeks. She described the Coalition’s current position as “an excellent first step in addressing gambling harm reduction”.
Guardian Australia has spoken to several Coalition MPs who would support tougher action but stressed they were comfortable with the policy taken to the election. Others do not support the government taking further action.
In mid-2023, Wolahan was a member of a bipartisan parliamentary committee that recommended sweeping changes to how Australia regulated online gambling, including a total ban on gambling ads after a three-year transition period and the creation of a national regulator.
The Albanese government is yet to formally respond to the Murphy inquiry, despite stating it would do so before the election. It has also faced sustained lobbying from broadcasters and sporting codes to water down the report’s recommendations.
According to Meta’s ad library, Wolahan paid for social media advertising two days after the federal election campaign was called.
“I was proud to sign the Murphy report in June 2023,” said the ad, which has an estimated audience size of up to 50,000 people. “I am also proud that the Liberals are ready to take the first step. Let’s work together – the PM just needs to say yes.”
The paid aid coincided with a campaign video shared on Wolahan’s social media feeds, in which he stated he was “not proud” of figures showing Australians spend more on gambling than the government spends on aged care, as reported by Guardian Australia.
“Often politics gets in the way of solving complex problems, especially so close to the election,” Wolahan said in the video. “But this is not one of those problems … sign up to Peter Dutton’s proposal and let’s take this important first step.”
Wolahan won the ultra-marginal seat of Menzies in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs by just 0.4% in 2022. But after a redistribution, the seat is now notionally Labor – meaning he must win more votes at the next election than in 2022 to retain it.
At the last election, the Greens candidate for Menzies, Bill Pheasant, recorded a 4% swing towards him. While the Greens secured just 14% of the vote, the party has campaigned strongly on banning gambling ads and a preference deal with Labor could hurt Wolahan’s campaign.
A campaign video featuring Kennedy, the member for Cook, cited research from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, which expressed concern about the volume of gambling ads on free-to-air broadcast stations.
“Kids see an average of 948 gambling ads on TV every year,” Kennedy said in the campaign ad. “This is unacceptable. What’s also unacceptable is Labor promised to bring on legislation dealing with this last year but has failed to deliver it.”
A separate video featuring Kennedy states: “One in three kids think gambling is just a part of sport. This is unacceptable.”
Wolahan, Kennedy and the Coalition campaign were contacted for comment.
