Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, National Self-exclusion Register (Cost Recovery Levy) Amendment Bill 2026

Mr TEHAN (Wannon—Manager of Opposition Business) (11:04): I've got to start today by saying that I like a punt. I like a bet. I like having a beer with my mates and having a bet.

I also have a stake in a couple of horses, and I love horseracing and the horseracing industry. I think there is no better sight in Australia than the Grand Annual steeplechase being run with 14,000 people there at the venue. It's the largest crowd you will get outside of a metropolitan race meeting like the Melbourne Cup or the carnival in Sydney, with them all standing up on the hill watching horses do what they've done for over 100 years.

As a matter of fact, the Grand Annual steeplechase will be run for the 150th time next year. But it's not just events like that; it's the Dunkeld Cup, where you get young people who've finished school all going there—and, once again, you'll get 8,000 to 10,000 people in a beautiful setting, with Mount Sturgeon as the backdrop, just having fun and enjoying themselves.

If you go to Coleraine and to Casterton, these are wonderful racetracks which have wonderful race meetings. You can go to Hamilton and watch the horse trials, and you get a sense of the people that are employed in the horseracing industry. You see the jockeys, the trainers and everyone else—the strappers who love and care for the horses like there is no tomorrow.

It just gives you a sense of people getting up early, working hard and doing something that they love. I can go right around my electorate and see things like this. It can be the Warrnambool dogs and the wonderful meeting they have during the Warrnambool Racing Carnival.

You can go to Hamilton for the harness racing; they do a fantastic job. People come from south-west Victoria and South Australia, bringing their horses to participate. Terang is another great meeting.

Mortlake is another great meeting. I'm going to leave parts of my electorate out. Ararat has both harness and great thoroughbred racing; people come and participate in the Ararat Cup, which is fantastic.

It is the same in Colac. Right throughout my electorate, this is an industry which is creating jobs and giving passion to people who are involved in it in a way that's very hard to capture. We have to make sure that the ability for people to race is always there, because it's something we've always done.

If you try and take it away, it won't work. Prohibition won't work. You have to, like you have to do with all things when you are being responsible in government, make sure you get the balance right.

For me, with these gambling reforms, getting the balance right is absolutely crucial. We don't want to impact and hurt an industry which provides thousands and thousands of jobs in regional and rural Australia and in urban Australia while we deal with something we need to deal with—that is, gambling advertising and the change which is occurring in society, in the way that gambling advertising is working, so that we protect children and protect people who are very vulnerable to being exploited.

Getting the balance right is exactly what the government and the opposition want to do. We want to make sure that there are sensible changes which address keeping harmful advertising away from children, and we want to make sure that, for those who have identified themselves as having a problem when it comes to gambling, we do what we can in the best way that we can to protect them—all while not impacting on those who like to have a bet or on those industries which provide such enjoyment and, in particular, much-needed employment which generates incomes and puts roofs on homes, over people's heads, so they can bring up families and participate in the community.

That is what we need to see in this bill. I think we're all in agreement—those on the government side and us on the opposition side—that the first attempt made by the government probably doesn't get the balance right. There have been some very sensible suggestions as to how we can change it and get the balance right.

When we're dealing with issues like this, I think this place works well when there is a lot of passion on both sides. And I understand why there is a lot of passion on both sides. I had a family member who got in a lot of trouble because of their gambling.

If it wasn't for a brother stepping in, helping and supporting them, they would have got in very serious trouble. My uncle was able to help my other uncle to basically straighten himself up and to stop the harm that he was causing himself. It is critically important that we provide avenues and mechanisms to help those who need help, and that is what we're seeking to do.

We're trying—and should be trying—to do it in a way where we don't take away the individual right of an adult to spend their money how they see fit. If they get enjoyment from putting $25 on a horse or $25 on a pacer or $25 on a greyhound, they should be able to do it. And, if they're offered money back for running second or third, they should be able to take that up.

I like the fact that, when I have a bet and the horse finishes second, I get my money back. I can't see what's wrong with that. That's a good offer which I'm happy to take up.

I will say here quite publicly that sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. The way it works, more often than not, is that the bookies who set the odds are trying to make sure they're the ones that win. But sometimes they'll offer you odds more in your favour or offer you money back for running second and third.

That ultimately should be a choice that you have. As a House and as a Senate, as a parliament as a whole, if we sit down and work this through, I think we can get the balance right. What I see as getting the balance right is making sure that we address the issue when it comes to children and their exposure to gambling advertising—and we should do that in the best way we possibly can—and that we make sure we look after those who are vulnerable, those who can be exploited; we have to make sure we're dealing with them.

But we also have to make sure that we're not forcing gambling offshore nor forcing gambling towards organised crime. That will help no-one. We've got to make sure that we continue to have legalised gambling happening here in a way which benefits the industries which provide really important jobs and really important occasions for society.

In particular, if we get this balance right, it will mean in my electorate that Terang, Hamilton, Coleraine and Casterton will still be able to offer race meetings, where the community come together and enjoy themselves. I'll end on this point: if you want to see a community enjoy itself, then, for the 150th running of the Grand Annual Steeplechase in Warrnambool next year, make sure you get down and participate and see the spectacle for what it is.

You can come, you can have a bet and you can have a drink. You can come and you don't have to have a bet. You don't have to have a drink.

It's your choice. But you can come and watch an event which brings the community together, brings thorough enjoyment to everyone who's involved, whether it be the trainers, whether it be the jockeys, whether it be the strappers, whether it be everyone else involved in the industry or the community, who like nothing better than coming together and enjoying themselves and having fun.