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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (24 May) . . Page.. 1729 ..
MS TUCKER (continuing):
Is there a link between online gambling and problem gambling? The Productivity Commission thinks so. One of the key findings was: "Internet gambling offers the potential consumer benefits, as well as new risks for problem gambling." They said that effective managed liberalisation would require the assistance of the Commonwealth government-an argument for a national approach.
Is there a connection? On page 144 of E-commerce beyond 2000, the National Office for the Information Economy said:
The Productivity Commission's report asserts that gambling is a supply driven industry: the more outlets there are, the more money will be gambled. The development of Internet gambling, which brings the means to gamble into the home, vastly increases the number of outlets and it follows that substantially more money will be bet.
If Internet gambling grows to about $1 billion by 2003, one could postulate that between 50 and 70 per cent would be diverted from traditional channels. I will quote page 145:
The National Office for the Information Economy estimates that increasing provision of online gambling will result in an increase in the total amount of gambling in Australia of between 30 and 50 per cent.
A select committee of this Assembly investigated gambling in March 1999. This investigation focused on poker machines and interactive gambling was mentioned only in section 4.84 to 4.87. I have noticed that Mr Humphries is suddenly a great supporter of my original concerns about problem gambling and poker machines, although I do not recall the government being so supportive at the various times I tried to raise these issues in the last Assembly and this Assembly. But suddenly, yes, this government knows there are problems with poker machines. If you look at the amount of money this government has directed towards gambling problems, these claims look hollow indeed.
In fact, what the government is saying now is that there are problems with poker machines but there are not with online gambling. How you can possibly support that statement, I cannot imagine. It is a new form of gambling and no-one knows how much it will be picked up or by which groups. It may well attract a new client group. It is obviously going to be easy for younger people to use this medium.
You may be interested to know, Mr Humphries, that in the recent youth week activities one of the most popular courses for young people was the financial management course. That is because they have trouble managing finances. Young people often live for the moment. For heaven's sake, you claim there will not be the same problems, yet you do not even understand the impact of current gambling activity even though, if it were interested, the government has had years to look at it.
Understanding the social and economic impact of gambling is one of the tasks set for the gambling commission in line with their responsibility to provide advice on gambling and protection of consumers and the public interest. What was absolutely clear from our
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