The Prime Minister, John Howard, has announced the formation of a Ministerial Council on Gambling.
The government is to adopt a recommendation of the Productivity Commission aimed at achieving a national approach to problem gambling.
Text of statement by Prime Minister John Howard on problem gambling.
Excessive gambling blights the lives of thousands of Australians and their families every year.
Problem gambling has become a major social concern.
The challenge for all governments in Australia is to find a response which balances the undoubted right of individual Australians to gamble if they wish with the ongoing responsibility of governments for overall community welfare.
The regulation of gambling has traditionally been a State responsibility. It is not our desire to change this. The Commonwealth, however, does have a leadership role in coordinating a national response to problem gambling.
Importantly also, the Commonwealth has a direct responsibility in relation to the use of the internet for gambling. I am particularly concerned about the effect of a rapid expansion of internet gambling and the Government will be investigating the feasibility and consequences of banning internet gambling.
Mr LATHAM (Werriwa) (9.46 a.m.) — I wish to reflect on the news that Australia’s richest man, Kerry Packer, lost $34 million last month on a gambling spree in Las Vegas. I am sure that most Australians will feel uneasy about this sort of extravagance. Notions of public morality and justice are under threat when it is possible for one person to accumulate such extraordinary wealth and then use it in such an extraordinary way.