November 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of Clark Matters, Andrew’s monthly email newsletter to help keep you abreast of federal politics and what he’s been up to.
Aged care
The difficulties in the aged care sector have been a constant during Andrew’s parliamentary career. For instance, he is regularly contacted by people who tell him that their aged care funds are being gobbled up by administrative fees, and that the situation has become worse since 1 November with substantial fee increases under the Support at Home Program.
Residential aged care also causes grief for many people due to complex administrative arrangements and expensive financial requirements. Moreover, the service providers themselves are under real pressure, as evidenced by the alarming news that Southern Cross Care is closing one of its facilities in the Clark electorate. This will force some 70 people to move to new homes and 130 staff to find work at other facilities.
To be fair to the Government, it is rolling out reforms designed to make care in the home and residential care more sustainable. But the financial settings aren’t right, especially for people on lower incomes, and the promised improvements in quality often haven’t been achieved. Andrew is mindful of all this and will continue to take every opportunity to press the Government to do better.
Greyhound cruelty
Andrew recently tabled a private members bill that would remove the exemption for online wagering on greyhound racing in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. This would end online gambling on greyhound racing and, because online betting props up the industry’s profitability, hasten its demise.
Australia has the ignominious honour of hosting the largest greyhound racing industry in the world, and has around half the world’s remaining operational greyhound tracks. Australians themselves account for roughly 70 per cent of all bets placed on dog racing worldwide. And all the while dogs are suffering. As of 24 November, 99 dogs had died and 9,663 had been injured on tracks in Australia this year.
Andrew’s bill won’t receive support from the Government and the Opposition because the Labor, Liberal and National parties are scared stiff of the gambling companies and don’t care about the shocking cruelty in the greyhound racing industry. But Australia is one of only four countries still allowing the racing and Labor and the Coalition can’t hold out forever.
Gambling advertising
Andrew has been pressing the Government to allow a free vote in the Parliament to overcome the paralysis over a gambling advertising ban. He’s raised the idea directly with the Prime Minister and spoken about the issue repeatedly in both the Parliament and in the media.
Most Australians want the ads banned because they’re sick of them, and because they understand how ads normalise gambling and groom children for a lifetime of gambling. It is also clear that a majority of Government and Opposition Members also want the ads banned, and the PM’s intransigence on the issue is causing considerable disquiet. Tellingly, a motion moved by Andrew calling for a free vote resulted in at least one Labor Member abstaining and a Liberal Member crossing the floor.
Of course, the gambling advertising issue is a symptom of a bigger problem. The Government, and to a lesser extent the Opposition, are frightened of the gambling companies, frightened of the media companies, and frightened of the AFL and NRL. At the same time too many pollies enjoy cozy relationships with the gambling companies, the media and major sporting codes. Shame on them.
Yours sincerely
