Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Hansard source

That is right: the Central Coast is going to flood is another one. 'It is all factually based information driven by a good health policy,' we heard from the member for Greenway, 'and if you do not support it you support cancer'.

I do raise issues with this bill and I do raise issues with the direction that the government is taking in this respect. I am sure those on the other side will try to make cheapjack politics out of that. But it is the role of this place to question the direction of government policy, and I do question the direction that we are taking in this country where we tell society, 'The government knows better than you.' We do not and we should not. People should be left to make their decision on the consumption of legal products. This is a legal product. If the government are serious about the rhetoric of the member for Greenway, they will ban its use. That would be a more consistent position for the Labor Party to take.

To be lectured to by a minister who, quite frankly, is the biggest hypocrite in this debate—writing to cigarette companies and asking for donations at the same time as trying to get into this place, and abusing us and alleging that we are supporting big tobacco purely for donations—sums up exactly where the Labor Party are at. As I indicated, we will support the first bill, the Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011—with reluctance, I do—and we will be opposing the Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011.

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