Senate debates

Wednesday, 14 June 2006

Health: Tobacco

4:55 pm

Photo of Lyn AllisonLyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—
(a)
recognises that according to the recently released report, Counting the costs of tobacco and the benefits of reducing smoking prevalence in Victoria:
(i)
the total social costs of smoking in Victoria in the 1998-99 financial year were approximately $5.05 billion,
(ii)
of the total Victorian costs, approximately 45 per cent were avoidable,
(iii)
as a result of Victorian smoking, federal smoking-attributable expenditures exceeded smoking attributable revenues by approximately $160 million in the 1998-99 financial year, and
(iv)
under the most conservative method of estimation, the benefits of the reduction in smoking prevalence would be $2 034 million, or $10 291 for each person prevented from smoking by anti-smoking interventions; and
(b)
calls on the Government to increase the proportion of smoking-related revenue that is allocated to anti-smoking interventions.

Question put.