Have you noticed how often Anthony Albanese and his ministers talk about ‘getting the balance right’? It has become a mantra used repeatedly to explain why reforms they are proposing go only a fraction of the way to solving serious problems.
We have seen this recently with the gambling issue.
Australians overwhelmingly want action on the gambling epidemic plaguing our nation. The average Australian adult loses $1,635 each year, for a total of $36 billion, more per head than any other country.
About half of this loss is from poker machines in pubs and clubs and now online betting is gaining fast in popularity. Advertising infests the airways, sporting events and pops up on our devices.
Gambling has become a pernicious family-destroying addiction, and governments have failed in their duty to rein it in to protect people from its devastating impacts.
It has all happened rather suddenly. Who remembers the one-armed bandits in pubs when you inserted coins and pulled the lever? There was a clatter of coinage and a whoop of joy when someone occasionally won.
I witnessed this in the Las Vegas gambling mecca in 1965 on my first visit to the US. They used real silver dollars in poker machines.
I pulled out my camera and started taking photographs of the action in the Stardust Casino and was immediately detained at gunpoint by uniformed guards and taken to a small room where they grilled me about my motives.
The main questioner, lying back in his chair, feet on the desk, said he wasn’t allowed into England on his last attempt to enter. I told him I wasn’t surprised, the way he treated people. They made me expose my film and escorted me out of the casino, guns drawn.
I walked to the next casino up the road and after sitting at the roulette table for a while, playing ‘my winning system’, I was told to cash in my chips and get out. They only wanted losers.
These days every town in Australia is virtually a mini–Las Vegas. Not only that, but you can also bet online, anywhere, anytime – sitting in the park, in bed, on the veranda.
Gambling is as addictive as heroin or tobacco, but not quite so deadly.
Public pressure has obliged the government to finally do something about gambling advertising, but the legislative proposals go nowhere near the total ban recommended by the Murphy Review, which delivered 31 unanimous recommendations to treat gambling addiction as a public health issue.
The main proposal in the legislation is to cap gambling ads to three per hour between 6am and 8.30pm.
Neither the Greens nor the opposition support this weak legislation, but the government may need to work out a slightly tougher version with the Liberals to get it passed.
Government spokespeople wheeled out the ‘getting the balance right’ mantra, between protecting children and adults right to gamble. Adults are at risk as much as children.
As a former advertising copywriter, I’m fully aware of the power of advertising. It works, otherwise corporations would not waste their money.
We all know it’s pressure from the media losing advertising, clubs losing revenue, and the governments’ own addiction to the tax revenue.
We elect members of parliament to represent us, the interests of ordinary people. This once happened and still does when we elect community independents and members of parties such as the Greens not beholden to corporate donations and pressure.
Striking the ‘right balance’ currently means accommodating the interests of corporations whilst appearing to act.
Fossil fuel corporations invariably have priority over climate action.
Heroic Senator David Pocock and others have been pushing hard for a 25 per cent tax on Australia’s LNG exports, but this has fallen on deaf ears. This would raise $17 billion annually to improve health services, build social housing, and develop more resilience to increasing climate chaos. It would pay for more water bombers, for example, which may be needed in great numbers in a few months.
The Rural Fire Service called on our home phone the other day asking for funds. Why on earth would they need to do that? A tax on gas would flood their coffers with much needed cash.
We are watching Europe burn; rivers dry up and crops turned to dust. This is the face of the climate crisis. Are we ready and prepared for it? Will we have enough water bombers? Will evacuation plans be drawn up? It all needs serious pre-planning.
Our local federal member Justine Elliot will be held to account if her government fails to prepare adequately for what may be coming next summer.
If the Albanese government fumbles this after having been given so much warning, the people will turn on them. They risk losing their balance and being tossed out of office.
♦ Richard Jones is a former NSW MLC, and is now a ceramist.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
