E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY, ABC 666 RADIO CANBERRA

FRIDAY, 7 AUGUST 2026

Subjects: Gambling advertising legislation

Ross Solly: Yesterday on this program, you might remember I had Andrew Leigh, member for Fenner, on, and we got around to talking about the government's gambling laws, and he defended them. He said that he thinks that they're that they're a much better arrangement than what's in place already, and that he could see that there was no reason why parties, minor parties, should block the laws. I asked him on several occasions, for example, why not just change one of the laws so that people have to opt in if they want to receive the ads, and he refused to to give ground on that. Well, Alicia Payne, who is the member for Canberra, has now decided that she wants to speak out and suggest that maybe we could go further on this. Alicia Payne, good morning to you. 

Alicia Payne: Good morning, Ross. 

Ross Solly: So, what has prompted you to to speak out on this? 

Alicia Payne: Well, I actually have been advocating within our caucus about this since last term. I mean, I think we want to see Canberraans and Australians more broadly want to see action to address gambling harm, and I've been quite open about that. That within our caucus, I've been pushing for the response to the Murphy report, and also that we would go further with regard to the recommendations of that report. 

Ross Solly: Have you felt like a lone voice in there, Alicia Payne? 

Alicia Payne: No, no. I think there have been a lot of people saying that, and I think that's been publicly known. But what does seem to be getting lost, and I would agree with Andrew Leigh on this, is the reforms that we are trying to introduce are significant, and I think a lot of people are not realising that this is a really important step in the right direction that's going to make a big difference. So our reforms will mean that any gambling advertising on the jerseys in the stadiums will be gone. It is reducing, of course, the number of ads. Of course, many would like to see that go further, but it is doing that, and it is strengthening Betstop, which is something our government introduced a national register to help people opt out of gambling. So we are doing more than any government has done before.

Ross Solly: That is true, and no one's disputing that. Although some are suggesting that it doesn't go far enough, and I think you might be one. There are there are other simple things, Alicia Payne, which could be done that might ease some of the dangers. 

Alicia Payne: Yes. Well, I think we've seen, you know, inducements is something where we would like to see, you know, a lot of people are saying they would like to see our reforms go further. I would note that BetStop can allow people to opt out of things like that, but I think, you know, when people want to be able to help themselves escape from gambling harm, you know they should be able to do that. And for me personally, like so many Australians, I have seen firsthand what gambling harm is like. And I think when you've seen someone that you love trying to help themselves, trying to just escape from that constant invitation to keep gambling-that they should be able to do that, should be supported to do that. 

Ross Solly: So I don't want to pry, Alicia Payne. This was a family member or a friend, somebody that that was close to you. 

Alicia Payne: So my experience was someone who was close to me. This is a very long time ago, when I was a young adult, when I was a uni student, someone close to me had a problem with poker machine gambling, and essentially I was the only person that they had to support them through that. And they had a lot of other issues in their life, which are not-it's not my story to tell. But just the way in which this became a way that they tried to deal with that, the way that they saw-I don't know-to distract them from other issues they had in their life. Almost, it was so. It was just so clearly self-destructive behaviour. 

So this person was vulnerable, and then because of the things going on in their life, really challenging things. But this, I guess, hit them where you, I would think, perhaps it hurts the most, which is in their money and their ability to live their life, pay for food and rent, get on with their life and their dignity, and then of course, their relationships with those around them. So I think that anyone who has seen that, and there's many, many Australians, I think, who want to see the most done on gambling harm. 

Ross Solly: And you would have seen then, because you were the, as you said, Alicia Payne, you were the only person who was there who could really help her out. You would have then seen firsthand, and I suspect you would have built up a bit of anger towards the people who were running these poker machines and the efforts they were going to to entice your friend to continue gambling.

Alicia Payne: Absolutely, absolutely, and just the predatory nature of that industry that is designed to addict people and designed to keep you coming back, and we've seen so many stories of that. I mean, obviously, what we've seen in the inquiry, but we've heard we've seen local stories as well here in Canberra, many people, of course, know those close to them and have experienced it. 

Ross Solly: So the prime minister has suggested that it's a take-it-or-leave-it situation. If the minor parties don't like the laws as they are, then he'll scrap them all together. Do you think that's appropriate, or would you rather see, Alicia Payne, a reworking, maybe putting things like opting in to receive the ads instead of opting out? Just simple things like that. 

Alicia Payne: Well, I really hope that we can pass this legislation, and as I've said, I would love it if we could strengthen it, but my understanding is, is you know, the minister is talking with people across the parliament to get this through the parliament, as we would with any piece of legislation. That those discussions are happening. 

Ross Solly: But you would you rather? I mean, I asked Andrew Leigh this, and I'll ask you the same thing: a simple little change, like an opt-in. Would you hope that the government might reconsider its position on this? 

Alicia Payne: Well, yes, I personally would support that. And as I said, I've made no secret that I have all along with this. You know, I would like to see the strongest possible action on gambling harm at all times. I think anything that we can do to stop people falling into this is and help people get out of it is something that we should do. So yes, I would support if amendments like that were to be accepted. I would be very supportive of that, but I would I would absolutely don't want to you know walk away from legislation that is making significant steps in the right direction. 

Ross Solly: You'd be happy to know on the text line there's a lot of support for you here. Good on Alicia Payne for speaking out about the gambling laws. This texter says thanks to Alicia Payne for speaking out and calling for more action on gambling reform. I'm very impressed. That's Emma from Chifley. Alicia Payne was good to chat with you this morning. Thank you. 

Alicia Payne: Thanks for having me, Ross. 

Ross Solly: That's Alicia Payne. She's the Labor MP for Canberra.