Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I support the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2010. I believe it is vital that we promote healthier lifestyles and address issues of obesity, substance abuse, tobacco use and the harmful drinking of alcohol. Australia is in the grip of an obesity epidemic. I should disclose that I could do with losing seven or eight kilos, and I am working on it.

According to the National Health Survey published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics more adult Australians were overweight or obese in 2007-08 compared to 1995, when the previous study was conducted. The survey found that 68 per cent of adult men and 50 per cent of adult women were overweight or obese. This shows a growing incidence over 12 years, as only 64 per cent of men and 49 per cent of women were overweight or obese in 1995. Of most concern, the survey found that there was a significant increase in the proportion of children who were obese, from 5.2 per cent in 1995 to 7.8 per cent in 2007-08.

Alcohol consumption in Australia is also at scarily high levels. The ABS says that one in eight adults, approximately two million people, drink at risky or high levels, and this has increased significantly since the 1990s. Fifteen per cent of adult males and 12 per cent of adult females drink at risky or high-risk levels; meanwhile, 25 per cent of 14- to 19-year-olds report drinking alcohol on a daily or weekly basis. We need to tackle alcohol abuse in Australia—it is as simple as that. Do not get me wrong—alcohol is a safe product if used safely, but we have to stop kidding ourselves that it is being uniformly used safely throughout our community.

There is also the whole issue of the effect of alcohol advertising. As I was driving down North East Road in suburban Adelaide not long ago, I saw a bus shelter with a big poster ad for alcohol. I cannot remember which brand—I think it was for whiskey or bourbon—but the slogan was, ‘Are you ready yet?’ I think many would find that to be an irresponsible form of alcohol advertising.

The rate of non-alcohol substance abuse in Australia is frightening, especially when we compare ourselves to a country such as Sweden, which has had a number of policies in place to reduce substance abuse by focusing on prevention, treatment and control. On the whole, those policies aim not to punish drug users but to offer help and rehabilitation.

It is interesting that, according to the 2009 UN World Drug Report, Australia’s consumption of opiates such as heroin is at 0.4 per cent of the population aged 15 to 64. While the percentage might sound low, this equates to around 90,000 Australians each year using heroin compared to a country such as Sweden in which 0.17 per cent of its population uses opiates each year. Almost 2½ million Australians use cannabis every year. That is 10.6 per cent of our entire population, so it is much higher amongst 15- to 64-year-olds. Again, compare this to Sweden, where just 2.1 per cent of its population uses cannabis. Finally, in Sweden it is estimated that 0.4 per cent of the population consumes amphetamines such as crystal meth each year compared with a staggering 2.7 per cent of Australia’s population—almost seven times more. For those who are aware of the effects of crystal meth, it is an evil drug that causes enormous harm in the community. It is a source of great violence and mental illness.

Sweden’s policies focus on prevention, treatment and control through mandatory rehabilitation. That seems to be an approach that is working and that ought to be looked at in debates here in Australia. We are not doing the right thing by those who are in the grip of an addiction and we need look at better ways to more effectively treat these destructive addictions.

There is also tobacco, perhaps the most insidious product foisted on an unsuspecting public.