Why Chris O'Keefe has changed his mind about gambling ads 04:14

Now, I've changed my mind on gambling ads. And this won't be something that my bosses want to hear here at Channel 9 or 9 Radio. But I agree with Peter Dutton, John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull and the late Labor MP Peter Murphy. Because the status quo on gambling ads just cannot continue. It is way too much. Case in point, right? I spoke to a friend of mine's son the other day. He was driving, my mate. And I was on the car speaker and he had his 10-year-old in the car.

And his 10-year-old is a Roosters supporter. And I asked him, well, how do you think the Roosters will go against the Storm in Melbourne? Do you think the Roosters could win? You know what his response was? 10-year-old boy. The Roosters were $1.80 favourites, he told me. Nothing to do with the fact they were in good form or his favourite player was James Tedesco and was on fire. None of that. He rattled off the fact that they were $1.80 favourites. The odds. The gambling odds. Now, I'm sorry, that just didn't sit well with me.

You know that I've got a libertarian bent. I think people should be able to make their own minds up and our intelligence and our autonomy should always be respected by governments. I like a bet on the horses on occasion, but I don't need to be hammered with ads about bonus bets or the odds of this and that sporting match. But because I'm an adult, I can ignore it. That's okay. But kids, it is so ubiquitous that it is silly now.

And it is ubiquitous because media companies like mine here at Nine are happy to take the gambling company's dollars in a tough ad market. They're entitled to. But the potential harm that this does to families, there is not enough thought put into it. And that harm is not insignificant. We don't advertise cigarettes. Alcohol ads can't be shown during children's shows at any time. And when it comes to gambling ads...

Over 1 million of them aired on free-to-air television and metropolitan radio. 1,065,000 online betting shops that you can easily access on your mobile phone. It is way too much. Way, way, way, way, way too much. And before you start getting into me, yes, I've had Ladbrokes and have had the tab advertised on my program again.

Commercial media is a commercial venture, and this radio station needs to make money. It's part of our gig, and I get that. But from a position of what's good for broader society, I am finding it very difficult to argue that one million ads a year from gambling companies is a good thing for society. And I know that Taylor Collison's Andrew Orbach...

This guy's a respected gambling industry analyst, and he told the Financial Review that the number of customers signing up to sport betting companies every year if gambling ads are banned on TV and radio

Well, the number of new customers signing up could fall to 225,000 a year from 450,000. And after accounting for an annual churn of about a quarter of a million customers, bookmakers would be losing punters. Now, one, you cannot possibly tell me that that is slightly quantifiable. Not possible. And two, what are we doing now?

What happens when you turn 18? You get to vote. You can join the army. You can go to the pub and legally have a drink. And what, you open your own gambling account? That's part of the deal now? As soon as you turn 18, you jump on a sports betting app and open your own gambling account? That's not what it should all be about.

The fact that this is even being peddled around by some of these analysts tells me that the Albanese government needs to think long and hard about this. Because I think gambling advertising in Australia has gone way, way too far.