Gambling ad ban has growing support from Labor MPs behind the scenes [Video]

Labor MPs are staging a rare co-ordinated campaign to jolt the government into tougher action on betting advertising after a week of intensive lobbying ended in what harm-reduction advocates described as a farcical briefing.

TV and gambling executives spent the week in Canberra trying to water down a proposed two-per-hour limit on TV ads and a digital blackout, while anti-gambling and crossbench figures lobbied ministers to enact a total ban on all platforms.

There are divergent views about a ban among cabinet ministers, whose colleagues on a backbench policy committee heard from Communications Minister Michelle Rowland early in the week about plans to cap – but not ban – ads in response to community concerns about their saturation.

At that meeting, several MPs were adamant the government needed to strengthenits draft proposal to …