The Australian cricket player Usman Khawaja says that the Albanian government has been “100% too slow” to ban gambling advertisements and break the link between the efforts and sport to protect children.
Khawaja made a public plea for change in addition to a group of crossbench MPS, public health academics, doctors and other experts in parliament house.
“The relationship that young children have with gambling is scary and it is dangerous,” said Khawaja. “We normalize gambling for the younger generation.
“I can’t watch NRL game without getting opportunities just before a game. I play a figure cricket with young cricketers that come through.
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The Albanian government still has to respond formally to a double parliamentary report led by the late Labor parliament member Peta Murphy, who required an extensive ban on gambling advertisements after a three-year transitional period.
The government was planning to introduce legislation before the federal elections in May, but reforms were suspended in the midst of severe opposition of broadcasters, sports codes and some bookmakers.
The Minister of Communication, Annika Wells, has restored negotiations with the industry and various gambling sources have told Guardian Australia that they expect to see legislation by the end of the year.
When asked what the first step of the government should be, Khawaja said that “gambling of sport should forbid – it’s pretty simple”.
“You have to go cold turkey, it’s the same as what happened to tobacco,” said Khawaja. “We have a responsibility.
“If gambling is repeatedly brought together with sports and athletes, which shows that you cannot watch sport without gambling, then it is a very, very dangerous precedent to set.”
Khawaja met Albananese and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers on Thursday, after the cricket player said he was told earlier that a planned meeting with the prime minister had been canceled. Chalmers later said that he and Albanians had met Khawaja, but that the conversation “exclusively” concentrated in the middle.
Khawaja had previously led another press conference – in addition to David Pocock, Labor MP Ed Husic and other independent parliament members, including Helen Haines and Kate Chaney – in which the government was called to provide further sanctions on Israel, and reduced trade tires, about Palestinian civilian lists from the Gazaz war.
Chalmers described Khawaja as a friend and a “beautiful humanitarian”.
“We have a lot of respect [for Khawaja] And we listened to him to the issues … He is a leader of real substance, not only the leader in the religious community, but a leader in a broader sense, “said Chalmers.
“I take his contribution very seriously. I am grateful … that he has made the time to come and talk to us directly about these issues.”
The offices of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Communication were contacted for comment.
Earlier this week, when he was asked why it had taken more than two years to respond to the investigation, Albanian told the parliament that the government was aware of “whether people just go offshore” to keep gambling. Offshore Gokservice is forbidden in Australia and not subject to consumer protection.
Samantha Thomas, a professor of public health at Deakin University, who specializes in gambling research, said she was worried that the government seemed to use “talk points in industry”.
Many bookmakers have long disputed that gambling in Australia would be limited to urge consumers to offshore competitors who are not subject to consumer protection.
“Despite rhetoric in industry, there is limited independent evidence that suggests that ad ban would lead to a massive exodus to illegal markets,” said Thomas.
“Independent analysis also shows that we do not need gambling ads to protect free television and large media brands. If we continue in Australia, we must also disrupt the influence of industry on policy.”
Dr. Curry Aust from the Australian Medical Association was one of the group that called for a change. She said that as a doctor “she had seen the damage caused gambling and ties with mental disorders and substance abuse.”
“It is disappointing that no steps have been taken to tackle really good evidence in this [parliamentary] Report and the really good recommendations that came from there, “said Aust.
“We want children and young people to play sports and have their heroes without a constant gambling advertising.”
Independent MP Kate Chaney, who was a member of the Murphy investigation, accused the federal government of “listening to the money of gambling, sport and the media instead of listening to the voices of the community”.
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