Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Melbourne Ports for his question, particularly because he has had such longstanding interest in electoral matters and donations and the influence that they may or may not have on public policy in this House.

It is vitally important that, when it comes to public health, the government and the parliament listen to public health experts and not to big tobacco companies. Of course, that might be hard when your party relies on millions of dollars coming from tobacco companies to run election campaigns. In fact, as we now know, 97 per cent of British American Tobacco's worldwide donations go to the Australian Liberal and National parties. That is why the coalition has found it so hard to grapple with our plain packaging measures.

I saw online today something that members on our side of the House, in particular, may not have seen. That is that the Menzies House online journal has exposed the coalition members who argued in the party room against plain packaging. There are some likely and some unlikely members of that group. Among the likely members were the member for Mitchell and the member for Hume. Perhaps a little more unlikely is the member for Paterson. I have a bit of a soft spot for the member for Paterson—sorry, I have to admit that. But he was against this measure.

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