Anthony Albanese's shifty act while journalists were locked up: Labor is slammed over 'disrespectful' handling of report championed by MP who died of breast cancer

Published: 10:25, 12 May 2026 | Updated: 10:25, 12 May 2026 The Albanese government chose a moment when 'most' of Australia's political journalists were in the Budget lock-up to release its long-awaited response to a major gambling reform inquiry. On Tuesday afternoon hordes of journalists were in Budget lock-up, which sees them surrender their phones and be cut off from contact with the outside world as they pour over officials documents before the details can be released at 7.30pm. Despite having 1051 since the gambling inquiry report was released, the government chose Tuesday afternoon to respond to it, seemingly banking on it being overshadowed by the Budget. Independent MP Kate Cheney said it was hard not to scrutinise the response to the report that was championed by late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who died in December 2023 of breast cancer. 'Literally most of the political journalists in the country are locked up so it's hard not to be cynical about the government not wanting to draw attention to this,' Cheney told ABC's Afternoon Briefing. She said the government's reform package falls far short of what the report called for and refers to at best three or four of the total recommendations. She said it ignores a key recommendation for a national online gambling regulator.   Peta Murphy presented the report just months before she died aged 50 following her lengthy health battle and it was seen as part of her legacy. The former MP for Dunkley Pete Murphy handed down a gambling inquiry report just months before she lost her battle with breast cancer in December 2023 Despite having 1051 days to deliver its response to the report, the Albanese government chose to release it on Tuesday afternoon as many political journalists were in Budget lock down The report called for a ban on gambling advertising due to the harms caused by those ads on TV, at sports venues and online. On Tuesday, Independent ACT Senator David Pocock also agreed the government's response to the inquiry report was 'disrespectful'. Leading advocate for gambling reform, Tim Costello, said it was 'very disappointing' and added that Anthony Albanese's claim that the balance is right 'is embarrassing' as there was no checks to stop adults having a problematic punt. Importantly, Costello said children are also not being protected 'in the interests of foreign multinational sports betting companies.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.