A touch of hypocrisy from Aussie AFL executive?

On Monday Hawthorn AFL club president Jeff Kennett called for action to limit the marketing of sports betting, stating his belief that the sector is indoctrinating a generation of young Australians with a gambling ethos.

Speaking to local reporters at the launch of the beyondblue Cup, Kennett explained away the apparent contradiction of his club’s ownership of pokie facilities but opposition to sports betting by saying that there is an important distinction between the two forms of gambling.

Regarding pokies, he said: “They’re not there for children, they’re not allowed to play, they’re for adults making choices. The worry I have with sports betting is that it is indoctrinating a whole generation of young people that their future, their happiness, is associated with gambling.

“What adults do is their business. Some adults have difficulty with alcohol, with horse racing, with all sorts of gambling, but they’ve got choices.

“When we have sports betting up there being thrust down the throats (of young people) on a daily basis- whether it be on television, on radio etcetera – you are indoctrinating them into a lifestyle aspiration, which I think is very dangerous.”

Kennet referred to the federal government’s restrictions on when gambling adverts may be shown, saying that he supports a blanket ban, or at least restrictions similar to those which apply to casino advertising.

Pressed by reporters, Kennett acknowledged that his club should move away from reliance on pokie revenue, conceding that this “mighty happen over time” but observing that other sources of revenue would first have to be found, which the club was working on.

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