Page 3267 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 October 2022
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Since coming out of rehab, he has stolen money twice, and this is to pay for a bank loan he used for gambling and was not able to repay. Harry has excluded himself from the TAB and clubs, but that then compromises social activities with his mates who want to go and have a meal and a drink, and Harry cannot join them.
That is the end of Harry’s story that I will tell today. I believe Harry has a bright future and I hope he will walk away from this experience over the last few years empowered that his story may help people and that people hearing this speech today will realise they are not unique in their experience and they are not alone. I would like to thank Harry and his family for trusting me to tell their story today.
Harry and his family’s story is one of the reasons that I have started the Bets Off. Game On. petition, calling for an end to gambling sports ads on TV. The petition will form part of a submission to the federal parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, through their inquiry into online gambling. I see this inquiry as a significant opportunity to tell the federal government how fed up the community is with the gambling advertising on our TV and how it has infiltrated our sports.
I would like to thank my ACT Labor colleagues for their support for the campaign. I would also like to thank those organisations, such as ACTCOSS, Alliance for Gambling Reform, the Salvation Army, Anglicare, the Australian Federal Police Association, the ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service and Royals Rugby Union Football Club, which have publicly supported the campaign. The petition will be open for just over three more weeks. Please get on board and reclaim our sports from those international online wagering companies.
Women’s rights in Iran
MR CAIN (Ginninderra) (6.05): As shadow minister for multicultural affairs, I believe that, in order to understand and represent the unique challenges certain groups in our community face, it is important to play an active role in local events, no matter what the occasion. Hence, I felt compelled to attend and stand in solidarity with the ACT Iranian Persian community on Parliament House lawns on the afternoon of 27 September.
The ACT Iranian community of Canberra and parts of the Persian Australian Community Association coordinated a protest on that afternoon. This initiative was supported by Amnesty International ACT/SNSW, with supporters travelling from Melbourne and Sydney to add their voice. The aim of this rally, which should not surprise any member here, was to bring into the foreground women’s rights in Iran.
Of course, a trigger for this protest and for many others was the tragic death of the Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, whose passing was deeply upsetting. Ms Amini died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for alleged breaches of the mandatory hijab legislation.
This incident has sparked protests across Iran and cities around the world and is daily in our news, with men and women advocating, at great risk, support of women’s rights. We can see widespread support globally regarding this issue, and Amnesty
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