Page 5558 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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dividend from the ACT Labor clubs and that comes out of the pockets of problem gamblers, and that is the problem. That issue needs to be addressed.
The other packages and their impact need to be addressed. We need to have a way forward that is consistent, that does not change from year to year as it has for the last four or five years. There has always been a different impost and a change of view and a change of tack because we have not operated from a position of knowledge. I would be interested to know from the minister when he intends to release the prevalence study, because the prevalence study would go a long way to addressing what we are discussing here today. The right thing to do today would be to adjourn this bill, wait for the prevalence study, make sure that we get it right—
Mr Barr: Yes, that’s what we are doing.
MR SMYTH: You are agreeing to it in principle.
Mr Barr: Yes, we agreed to it in principle and then—
MR SMYTH: You are agreeing to it. Well, it is agreed. The tax is there. It is agreed to in principle, whether or not we have got the prevalence study. If you were serious about this, you would have adjourned it first thing this morning and said, “We will address it in December when we have got the study, when we can move forward.” But that is not going to happen, is it?
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (3.36): I am very pleased to rise today to support this bill that Ms Hunter has brought before the Assembly. I think it is an important initiative. This bill creates a robust, transparent, fair and reasonable scheme to support those with a gambling addiction and to reduce the prevalence of problem gambling in our community.
Ms Hunter has outlined the results of detailed research into problem gambling and also told us of the firsthand experiences of organisations struggling with an issue that affects not only the gambler but, in most cases, his or her family, friends and work colleagues. There is no question that we are not allocating sufficient resources to gambling addiction and the associated health issues and that many in the community are suffering because of our inaction. This is a health issue that needs an urgent response.
The problem gambling assistance organisation Gambling Help Online have found that people with a gambling problem were twice as likely to be depressed and 18 times more likely to experience severe psychological distress than people without a gambling problem. There is a strong link between problem gambling and other mental health problems, which, of course, only makes the problem worse in a vicious cycle of addiction that often does not see the light of day until it is too late.
Researchers and clinicians alike have highlighted the importance of looking at a person’s mood when they are gambling in seeking to address the problem. Once identified, there is evidence that gambling often has an impact on other aspects of a person’s life. One only has to look at the websites of assistance providers to see the
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