Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was listening to Senator Cash very closely. Big tobacco are very desperate to stop plain packaging and are resorting to every trick in the book, and the Liberal Party seem to be on their side—given Senator Cash's nonsensical diatribe just earlier. Unlike the Liberal Party, which continue to receive such donations from cigarette companies, the government will not be influenced by big tobacco. Unlike the coalition, the Gillard Labor government is serious about tobacco reform and about reducing the burden of smoking-related disease in our country. Plain packaging is one of many reforms that will ultimately drive down smoking rates.

While these rates are dropping, they still remain unacceptably high in Australia. The government raised the tax on cigarettes by 25 per cent last year because we know there is a clear correlation between a price increase and the cessation of smoking—particularly among low-socioeconomic groups, which we know carry the highest burden when it comes to smoking-related illness. A price increase not only helps drive people towards a quit attempt but also stops people from taking up the habit in the first place.

The Gillard Labor government has also spent $27.8 million on advertising on antismoking campaigns. Why? Because we know that sustained mass media campaigns, specifically TV advertising, are an effective way to decrease smoking rates. In December last year, the Labor government made the decision to place nicotine replacement therapy on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and it has been available since February this year. Where NRT once cost up to $140, those with a concession card can now access a four-week course for approximately $5.40—and $33 for those without a concession card. This was a move welcomed by many, as it broke down the barrier for those who could not previously afford NRT. For many, it was cheaper to continue smoking when compared to purchasing NRT.

In September this year, federal health minister Nicola Roxon announced that the Australian government would commit an additional $700,000 to the World Health Organisation to increase the global fight against tobacco smoking. More than 170 countries have ratified the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which includes a comprehensive road map for the implementation of effective tobacco control policies—one of which is plain packaging. As Ms Roxon said, tobacco companies are fighting for their profits, but we, the Labor government, are fighting for people's lives.

Unfortunately, in my home state of Tasmania, we continue to buck the national trend with higher than average smoking rates. In 1995, Tasmania's smoking rate was 1.5 per cent higher than the national average and today it is more than four per cent higher. Just last week, Tasmania was named as the state with the worst lung cancer rates for women in the nation and the state with the second-highest rate of mortality in both men and women who develop the disease.

This is unacceptable, and that is why the Tasmanian Labor government was the first state to ban smoking in bars and clubs, in January 2006, and smoking in cars carrying children, in 2008. The Tasmanian Labor government is introducing reforms that will see a dramatic increase in the number of places smoking is banned, including in all outdoor dining areas and pedestrian malls. These laws are planned to commence in March, 2012. These regulations will help reduce the proportion of daily smokers in Tasmania and have done so already—from 22.6 per cent in 2007 to 15.9 per cent in 2010. But, of course, we still have a long way to go, with four in every 25 Tasmanians still choosing to smoke.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of some of those who have been involved with this legislation—those who have thrown their support behind the Gillard Labor government. While I cannot name them all—there has been such support and momentum behind this legislation—there are some key players. Cancer Council Australia, the National Heart Foundation of Australia, Action on Smoking and Health Australia, the Public Health Association of Australia and many more have long advocated for plain packaging and have had the courage of their convictions, fronting more than one government inquiry to represent the arguments for plain packaging. All the efforts on this issue are to be applauded.

There is no quick fix when it comes to smoking addiction. There is no overnight solution—just as there is no quick fix for those addicted to the substance. We know that it can take many attempts to successfully quit, but each attempt is a step closer, just like each measure introduced by this government: a 25 per cent increase in tobacco tax, placing nicotine replacement therapy on the PBS, increasing the spend on antismoking marketing and now plain packaging. It is all a step in the right direction and eventually we will win this fight. I commend these bills to the Senate.