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

In Australia, smoking is the largest single cause of death and disease, with about 290 people dying from a smoking related illness every week and a total of 15,500 people dying every year. Smoking rates have significantly declined over the years, but there are still 16.4 per cent of Australian males aged 14 and over, and 13.9 per cent of females aged 14 and over smoking in Australia. They are terrible statistics. These numbers are still much higher than we would like to see, yet when we consider that 72 per cent of men were smoking in 1945 and 33 per cent of women were smoking in 1976 we have can see how low the numbers have dropped. The drop in numbers has occurred as a result of sustained federal, state and territory government education campaigns and tobacco control strategies, including tobacco taxes and advertising restrictions. Amongst men, the highest rates of daily smoking are those aged 30 to 39 and 40 to 49, and for women, amongst those aged 40 to 49. Many of these smokers will have been smoking for at least 20 years of their life—20 years of doing damage to their bodies and also damage to the bodies of those affected by their second-hand passive smoke.

Quitting smoking at any age will have health benefits, and obviously the earlier you stop the better. Quitline details the benefits of quitting which can start to occur as early as only 12 hours after quitting when almost all the nicotine is out of your body. After 24 hours the carbon monoxide, a highly toxic gas, has dramatically decreased in a smoker's bloodstream and oxygen has increased. After a year of not smoking, a person will have halved the risk of dying from heart disease of that of a continuing smoker, and after a decade the risk of lung cancer is less than half of a continuing smoker and continues to decline. Despite these benefits many people continue to smoke. Why? Why do they do this? Perhaps because quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things a person can do.

The United States Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, has stated that tobacco products are as addictive as heroin. Given 80 per cent of smokers have tried to quit but failed, the strength of the dependence on smoking is clear. I can honestly say I have never put a smoke to my lips. The fact that I am out of breath is due to the fact that I have run all the way from the Senate to get here because it is such an important issue and I wanted to have my words recorded on this. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners identifies smoking as the behavioural risk factor responsible for the highest level of preventable and premature death in Australia, even though the smoking rate continues to fall. The college recognises that, if a general practitioner can stop two potential lifelong smokers, they have saved a life. There is no other intervention for a common problem which is this effective.

Whilst someone who is already smoking is likely to continue to do so, we do not really understand why people choose to take up smoking in the first place. There are multitudes of educational campaigns available, yet studies show that many people remain unaware of the extent of the impact of smoking on the body. They know smoking is bad, just not how bad. This is particularly concerning amongst young people. Schools run educational programs, messages are promoted through television programs, and even friends tell each other about the dangers and consequences of smoking. It is therefore shocking and highly concerning that a 2011 survey of Australian school students found current smoking rates amongst boys aged 12 to 17 to be seven per cent and amongst girls in the same aged bracket to be 6.3 per cent. Why do children so young want to smoke, and where are they getting access to tobacco products?

In my electorate of Riverina, the TAFE NSW Riverina Institute became a smoke-free workplace on 10 April last year. This was done to align with community expectations about smoking zones, and the institute also put systems in place to support staff and students who may have used the smoke-free measure as an inspiration to quit. There can be no better means of helping to curb smoking and to stop it being taken up in the first place than with education campaigns. Whilst current campaigns are working, we need to continue to work on finding the reasons why people initially take it up and then choose to continue to do so. Australia has great support networks such as Quitline to assist those who do wish to give up, and it is important we remember it has to be an individual's decision to quit, but we can ensure there are plenty of measures in place to support them during this difficult time.

My father, Lance, passed away through lung cancer in 2008. I can honestly say that any measures that help save a life from smoking is a measure well worth taking.

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