Deputy PM and Opposition Leader talk ‘politicisation’ of anti-Semistism
This morning Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton spoke with the Today Show about yesterday’s news about the alleged antisemitic terror plot.
Mr Marles was asked if he believed the issue of rising anti-Semitism in Australia has been politicised.
“What underlies this is bigotry, prejudice, hatred,” Mr Marles said.
“It has no place in Australia today and together we need to be standing against this which this government is and governments around Australia are.
“I mean, it’s obviously not a matter for party partisan politics.”
Mr Dutton repeated comments made yesterday about community frustration over the rise of anti-Semitism over time.
“It’s predictable in the sense that people don’t know red lines, and they’ve continued to escalate and people have warned of Australians losing their lives had this taken place, as I understand from the police advice, it would have been a 40 metre blast zone, which would have been the most catastrophic terrorist attack in our country’s history.
“And so we have to take it incredibly seriously. And you can understand why the Jewish community is really living on edge.”
Labor accused of making a ‘Broken promise’ to tackle gambling advertising
Despite the delay in a response, both parties have expressed a desire to reduce the amount of gambling advertisements shown to Australians.
The prime minister has previously claimed he has done more reforms when it comes to gambling than any other in Australian history.
“To be fair to the Prime Minister, his government has introduced BetStop which is an online self-exclusion arrangement. That’s okay as far as it goes,” Independent MP Andrew Wilkie told RN Breakfast.
“He has also legisalted to ban credit cards for the use of online gambling.. now they are positive reforms and I do give the govnerment credit for it but in same ways they are putting band aids on a bigger problem.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition leader Peter Dutton Peter Dutton announced under a Coalition Government, gambling ads for live sport will be banned one hour before, during and one hour after the broadcast.
Shadow Communications Minister Mellissa McIntosh put out a statement today accusing the Albanese Government of making a “broken promise on tackling gambling advertising.”
“Over the last two years since the Opposition Leader’s announcement, the Prime Minister has been unable to make a stand on gambling advertising, despite a Labor-led report calling for it, pressure from his own backbench, the teals, and advocacy groups,” she said.
“This isn’t the first issue the Prime Minister has been either slow to act on, or not acted on at all. He now has two sitting weeks to show some courage and conviction, and take a stand on gambling harm.”
Time is running out for Labor to respond to gambling ad inquiry
The wait continues for the federal government to release its response to a 2023 inquiry which called for a total ban on gambling ads and time is running out before the election.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has been campaigning on gambling reform and told RN Breakfast he thinks it is unlikely Labor will legislate anything on gambling advertisements before the election.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that the party will put gambling ad reform on ice until after the election.
More than a decade ago, the Julia Gillard-led minority Government backed out of a deal on gambling reform with Mr Wilkie who says he has fears “history could repeat itself.”
“The Labor party has a desire within its DNA to protect the gambling industry mind you to be fair to the Labor party, the opposition is not proposing a blanket ban of gambling advertising either,” he said.
The high-profile inquiry by late Labor MP Peta Murphy, called for a phase-out of ads on all platforms.
Last year Communicaitons Minister Michelle Rowland pledged the government would respond by the election but Mr Wilkie believes they’ve run out of time.
“They might say something but they’ve run out of run way to actually legislate anything, we’ve got two weeks of parliament coming up, we might come back for budget but it seems very very unlikely they would legislate anything.”
👋 Good morning
Good morning everyone.
Welcome to our politics live blog.
Georgie Hewson here from the ABC’s National Digital team here to help guide you through the day.
Let’s dive straight in.
