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Albanese announces new restrictions on gambling advertising
Albanese:
We legislated against subscription traps, and today I announce we will build on the reforms that we have already delivered to combat gambling harm.
Between 6am and 8:30pm, we will cap the number of TV ads for agencies at a maximum of three per hour, we will ban all gambling ads on radio during school pickup and drop-off.
We will ban cross promotion content that mixes commentary with odds, and advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums. And we will ban online advertising unless the user is verified as being over 18 and has the ability to opt out. Just as importantly we will block illegal offshore gaming sites and bad online keynote byproducts, the so-called pocket pokies … and we will keep building on the success of Betstop, promoting and strengthening a program that is changing lives.
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‘We are getting the balance right,’ Albanese says
Albanese speaks of the need to make sure children don’t believe gambling and sport are “inextricably linked”:
We are getting the balance right, letting adults have a punt if they want to but making sure that our children don’t see betting as everywhere they look because we don’t want kids growing up thinking that gambling are inextricably linked, we want Australians to love sport for what it is.
Albanese announces new restrictions on gambling advertising
Albanese:
We legislated against subscription traps, and today I announce we will build on the reforms that we have already delivered to combat gambling harm.
Between 6am and 8:30pm, we will cap the number of TV ads for agencies at a maximum of three per hour, we will ban all gambling ads on radio during school pickup and drop-off.
We will ban cross promotion content that mixes commentary with odds, and advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums. And we will ban online advertising unless the user is verified as being over 18 and has the ability to opt out. Just as importantly we will block illegal offshore gaming sites and bad online keynote byproducts, the so-called pocket pokies … and we will keep building on the success of Betstop, promoting and strengthening a program that is changing lives.
Fuel crisis ‘not like Covid’, Albanese says
Albanese had just before spoken of the necessity of being better prepared to avoid a repeat of what Australia experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I’m taking every opportunity in the parliament, at press conferences, on social media, in last night’s address and here at the Press Club, to make it clear to all Australians that, while there are significant challenges ahead, and common sense changes required, this will not be like Covid.
… Taking sensible steps now, so we’re better prepared for what is ahead. And being clear about what we want life to look like here in Australia, even as the global situation becomes more challenging. So we do not have a repeat of the social [experience] of Covid.
When people’s financial stress and anxiety about the world was compounded by being cut off from family and friends and community. And trust in government and institutions was eroded by rules that seemed both completely inflexible and constantly changing. Our focus is keeping Australia moving and keeping Australia open.
Albanese announces a further cut to fuel tax
Albanese:
This morning, importantly, we have reached agreement with the states and territories to deliver a further cut in the fuel tax, by returning their GST windfall to Australians.
… This will mean a combined saving of 32 cents on every litre.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already signed that change into law.
‘Australia is not an active participant in this war,’ PM says at press club
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up for another address at the Press Club. He opens saying:
This is a testing time for our nation. The war in the Middle East has caused the biggest increase in petrol prices …
Australia is not an active participant in this war. We did express support for the original objectives: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and degrading its ability to damage its neighbours.
Iran’s air force is degraded, its navy is degraded.
Its military industrial base is degraded and so too is its capacity to launch missiles.
That’s a good thing.
Now those objectives have been realised, it’s not clear what more needs to be achieved. Or what the end point looks like.
What is clear is that the longer the war goes on, the more significant the impact on the global economy will be.
Not just the price of fuel, but everything that relies upon fuel, literally everything that moves.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has begun an address to the Press Club in Canberra.
Police request more time to defend lawsuit brought by Hannah Thomas
Police are requesting even more time to defend a lawsuit brought by a federal Greens candidate who was maimed during a protest.
Hannah Thomas suffered a serious eye injury that required surgery when she was arrested outside a Sydney firm on 27 June during a protest over weapons being supplied to Israel.
The 35-year-old faced criminal charges that have since been withdrawn, while Senior Constable Christopher Davis has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm over the violent altercation.
Davis has pleaded not guilty and the case has been set down for a hearing in February next year.
But Thomas’s civil claim against NSW Police, which alleges malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office, has stagnated, with the state requesting more time to prepare a defence.
In the NSW supreme court on Thursday, her frustrated lawyer Anavi Arya said it was the second time police had requested an extension and called it “quite excessive”.
Arya said they had already provided the extra details supporting their claim requested at the previous court date.
“The state has had enough time to consider a defence,” she told the court.
Lawyer James Knez said members of the police force referenced in the lawsuit were so senior that it required more time to defend.
“There are allegations made against quite senior members of the police force ... the exact torts they’re said to have committed haven’t been pleaded,” he said.
“It shouldn’t matter who they are,” court registrar Jennifer Hedge replied.
The police were granted the extension and the matter will return to court on 5 May.
Thomas’s lawyer said her side had served all material requested, including medical records, tax details and psychological evidence.
A magistrate has previously ordered police to pay costs amounting to $39,435 to four demonstrators, including $21,000 to Thomas.
Thomas, who stands about 155cm and weighs about 45kg, was charged with hindering or resisting police and two counts of refusing to comply with a move-on direction before the allegations were formally withdrawn earlier in September. The court has previously heard the injuries Thomas sustained were extremely serious and her long-term prognosis was still unknown.
Thomas unsuccessfully ran for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s inner-west Sydney seat of Grayndler at the 2025 federal election.
Albanese expected to respond to gambling report in press club address
Krishani Dhanji
The prime minister is expected to respond to a major report on gambling advertising, during his national press club address today.
Anthony Albanese has been under pressure to respond to a report handed to the government in June 2023 from an inquiry chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
The Murphy report, “You win some, you lose more”, made 31 recommendations, including a phased ban on all online gambling advertising.
As my colleague Josh Butler brought you last night, gambling industry and harm reduction advocates were expecting an imminent announcement.
Reported elements of the plan have been called “half-arsed” by reform advocates, including independent senator David Pocock.
US President Donald Trump has begun speaking from the White House
Follow here:
Earthquake strikes in Indonesia, sparking tsunami alert
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck the Northern Molucca Sea region in Indonesia, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake, which hit early on Thursday local time, had depth of 35km and its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-northwest of Ternate, Indonesia, the USGS said.
The US tsunami warning system said tsunami waves were possible with 1,000km of the epicentre, along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. It warned that tsunami waves reaching 0.3 metres to 1 metre (3.2ft) above the tide level were possible for some of the Indonesian coastline.
‘Tis the season for addresses national …
A reminder that at midday (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings time), President Donald Trump will deliver his first formal address from the White House since launching a war in the Middle East a month ago.
My colleague Jonathan Yerushalmy is running a live blog on that speech. He has written this:
It comes at a pivotal moment for the US president, as he faces accusations that he has lost control of the conflict and will not be able to achieve the key aims of the war.
Trump has continued to claim that the US has already won the war, and has refused to take responsibility for the economic fallout that has spread across the world.
In his speech, the president will give an operational update on the progress of Operation Epic Fury, while highlighting the military’s “success in achieving all of its stated goals”, a US official has said.
He is expected to reiterate the 2-3 week timetable for concluding the operation, but crucially is not expected to announced an end to the war.
Recent polling shows Trump’s overall approval rating slipping below 40%, with disapproval climbing above the mid-50s as voters sour on both the war and its economic fallout, while support for the Iran campaign itself polls even lower.
The economic picture has compounded the problem. US petrol prices have surged above $4 a gallon for the first time in years, while consumer confidence has weakened, dragging down Trump’s already fragile standing on the economy.
Follow Jonathan’s live updates here:
Mental health unit created in wake of hospital violence
Emergency department patients experiencing intense distress or aggression will be re-directed to a new therapeutic unit as a hospital attempts to curb violence against its staff, AAP reports.
Frontline employees at Westmead Hospital in Sydney’s west have been subject to a significant increase in aggression from patients, including one high-profile incident where multiple security guards and a nurse were injured when a 39-year-old patient allegedly slashed at staff.
But a new six-bed unit could help improve mental healthcare, keep staff safe, and reduce waiting times in the emergency department.
It will be better suited for patients who are at risk of becoming aggressive or agitated and will provide a secure environment to help those experiencing distress.
NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said:
Some patients don’t deal well in the loud, busy environment of an emergency department, it can cause them to behave in a way that puts the safety of our staff and other patients at risk.
That’s why we’re building a new, specialist unit to divert these patients away from the ED waiting room.
