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{
    "id": 1626213,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626213/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you for protecting me from the Members who are consulting. This is a highly emotive subject and I am certain they are busy discussing my submission as I speak. I wish to underscore and reemphasise that we must consider the root cause, preventing or curing it, rather than attempting to address it with a piece of paper and regulations. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, allow me to speak from the perspective of a creative. Recently, in last year’s Finance Bill, which was thwarted by nationwide protests, there was a proposal to tax the creative industry. Creatives protested loudly, asking, “how can you tax or regulate us when you have not even created an environment for us to thrive?” What exactly will you tax us? I draw a parallel, not literally, but in principle, to this issue. Why would you seek to tax or regulate a group of people who are exhibiting symptoms of societal problems we have failed to solve? Instead of addressing the root issues, we punish them for being unemployed, for struggling with addiction to alcohol, drugs or pornography, whatever the case may be, when we have not, as the so-called brightest minds in the nation, engaged in evidence-based policymaking. We must ask ourselves, is legislation truly the sustainable solution? Alternatively, must we dig deeper to the core, to understand why our people feel compelled to gamble away their lives, assets, dreams and possessions, instead of seeking honest work, addressing mental health struggles, overcoming addictions or breaking free from pornography? This is a poignant issue. I raised it clearly during our deliberations on this Bill in the Labour and Social Welfare Committee. The mediated version before us still fails to address this fundamental question, one that may be philosophical, but demands an answer. I had hoped this Committee would tackle these deeper issues rather than presenting us with yet another piece of legislation that may never solve the problem or bring gambling under control. I thank you."
}