When pressed on his reticence to implement a full ban [on gambling ads], Anthony Albanese has repeatedly implied that gambling is part of Australian culture.
Culture doesn’t happen in a vacuum, nor is it some sort of iron clad thing that never changes. Government policy has been a major contributor to addressing various public health issues that have historically been seen as cultural, and the same can apply to gambling.
Although I feel Albanese himself has a bit of a blind spot on this issue. He was one of the people who came out against the proposed greyhound racing ban by the NSW Liberal government in the 2010s, which has always tainted my view of him a little.
It’s hard to see it as anything other than the gamboling lobby controlling it politics. Albo is practicing ‘sensible politics’ which seems to mean ensuring corporate interests get the final say.
I am pro-gamboling but my old bones make it difficult these days. ;)
