Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The effects of a lifetime of smoking have great significance to me. Whilst I have never so much as put a lit cigarette to my lips, my father, Lance, was a lifetime smoker and on the first day of spring in 2008 passed away from lung cancer. Just before he died he pleaded with my children to never, ever smoke. I sincerely hope they heed his heartfelt and sage advice. It is a message they heard at primary school through the excellent Life Education Australia Healthy Harold interactive and mobile campaign. It is a message impressed upon them by my wife, Catherine, and I. But it was a message graphically and sadly brought home to them with the death of their beloved grandfather.

Tobacco smoking is the largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in Australia. About 15,500 Australians die from smoking related illnesses each year. Despite the effective campaigns against smoking which highlight the cost to your health and the financial burden and emotional strain on your family, there are still about 2.8 million Australians smoking daily. That is more people than the population of Brisbane. A particular concern is the almost 60,000 teenagers aged between 15 and 17 who are regular smokers. Even more alarmingly, five per cent are 12- to 15-year-olds.

The coalition acted decisively to address the prevalence of smoking whilst in government. Tony Abbott, whilst Minister for Health and Ageing, introduced the graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, in addition to other antismoking initiatives. The coalition continued to support sensible measures which actively discouraged smoking and has recently supported legislation to tighten electronic advertising restrictions and the government's plain-packaging legislation.

The coalition government presided over the biggest ever fall in smoking rates, with the prevalence of smoking falling, from 20 per cent to 16.6 per cent between 2001 and 2007, in Australians aged over 14. They were amongst the lowest rates of smoking in the world. I note and acknowledge that the government is also making every effort to reduce tobacco use.

This motion has, as it should, bipartisan support because the effects of smoking on people's health and our nation's medical resources are severe. We believe that there should be a national target to reduce the daily rate of smoking to less than 10 per cent.

The Technical and Further Education New South Wales Riverina Institute, in my electorate of the Riverina, became a smoke-free workplace on 10 April this year. This means that there is no smoking within the nominal boundary of any of the campuses. This was done to align with community expectations in relation to smoking zones. I commend the institute for the measure it has put in place to assist staff and students in accessing support with quitting if this measure inspires them to do so.

I also commend the campaigns running on television and featured in print, which are already addressing the issue of smoking in Australia. However, there needs to be a bigger focus on education and engagement in the push to reduce the use of tobacco. We should be educating people on the harmful effects of their decisions and the benefits to their lives if they do quit, rather than just telling people what they should and should not be doing. I believe that there needs to be a particular focus on young people. Young people today are switched on. They know that smoking is not good for them. In fact, they know that smoking kills people. I have two teenage sons. Most of the time they think they are invincible, but I also know they do not see smoking as cool or as something they would choose to do. Yet, for some reason, there are still so many young people choosing to light up. I think it is imperative that we get to the bottom of why they still choose to do so.

The health benefits of quitting smoking are astounding and the human body has the ability to repair itself from the day a person stops smoking. Within eight hours of quitting smoking, the excess carbon monoxide in an individual's bloodstream is gone. Within five days the nicotine has left the body and, in three months, lung function begins to improve. Research also shows that, if a person quits smoking at age 50, they halve their risk of a smoking related death. If they quit at age 30, they almost completely avoid all excess risk of a smoking related death.

No matter how much education or support is made available, we must accept that some people will continue to smoke. Many smokers find it a way to engage socially and, for some, the thought of giving up is difficult, let alone the actual attempt to quit. It is important that we continue to have measures in place to support people if they do wish to quit.

World No Tobacco Day is marked around the world annually on 31 May. It is meant to encourage a 24-hour abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe. The day is further intended to draw worldwide attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to 5.4 million deaths globally annually.

The member states of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. It is a good initiative and so is this private member's motion, moved by the member for Hindmarsh, and I commend him on it.

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