Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, like all the others on this side, rise in support of this motion. I am very pleased to do so on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, which will be observed tomorrow, 31 May, all around the globe, when the message will be given that smoking kills. Certainly, it is a very special message to younger people who have not taken up the habit yet but are being influenced by tobacco companies through their marketing, their packaging and through the colours on the packets. It is a message to them not to take up smoking, because we all know that tobacco kills.

I say this because tomorrow it will be seven years since I gave up. I was an addicted smoker—two packets a day—and I thought I would never give up. The damage that that has done to my body over a period of 30 years of smoking I cannot wish upon anyone. So I am very passionate about this debate.

I cannot believe what I am hearing from the opposite side this morning. Their argument about not supporting plain-packaged products is that the Labor Party receives donations from the unions. I say 'big deal'. I would much rather receive donations from an organisation that sticks up for workers' rights than from an organisation that is selling a product that is doing damage to people's health and that is trying to market their product to younger people, because that is the only new client they have here in Australia. I would rather receive donations from an organisation that assists people—workers—to ensure that they have rights at work. I have no problems with that. They can put up that argument as much as they like, but it is a non-argument; it is just a diversion from the real debate. The real debate is that they are receiving donations from companies that sell a product that is damaging people's health. These companies are looking at marketing their product to new clients, and their only new clients are teenagers and young people. With the laws in Australia not allowing the advertising of tobacco products, their only way of marketing is through packaging. This may not be about people giving up, but it is fundamental when it comes to people taking up smoking. Packaging is the last bastion of marketing that the tobacco companies have left to them.

It is absolutely devastating to know that there are still three million Australians who smoke and put their lives at risk every day and put the lives of others at risk through passive smoking. Smoking affects not just the people who light up but also their friends, families and workplace colleagues—and the consequences for their health can have an impact on their employment as well. Smoking damages not just you but everyone around you. Regardless of how many times you hear it, it is still a shocking statistic that 15,000 Australians die each year as a direct result of cigarette smoking—let alone the people who are dying indirectly from many other causes of tobacco smoking as well. That is 41 people dying every single day directly as a consequence of their smoking. And the Liberal and National parties on the other side are saying it is fine to receive donations from companies that contribute to these 15,000 deaths every year here in Australia.

I am very pleased to speak in support of this motion. Recognising that there is a serious problem is the most fundamental step towards addressing it. In fact, this government is already showing the strongest possible leadership on this issue. As we all know, we have introduced the world's first plain packaging to help people realise what putting a cigarette in their mouth really means: it means you are gambling with your life. I took up smoking when I was a teenager. Without a shadow of a doubt, if the packaging then looked like the plain packaging that we are going to have now, I would have thought twice about whether it was really something cool that I wanted to take up. This is what we are trying to get through to people. That could have saved me from 30 years of smoking and all the damage it has done to me. This is incredibly important because we know that eight out of 10 new smokers are young people. This is who the packaging is aimed at. We know that packaging and branding form a significant part of that appeal to smoke. (Time expired)

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