Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mandating packaging in a standard dark brown colour will be good for smokers in my electorate, in Ipswich and the Somerset region, because of the lower appeal. We should make sure that the health of Australians is promoted and that people do not die unnecessarily, contract cancer unnecessarily, get bronchial problems unnecessarily, have pulmonary disease unnecessarily or have heart problems unnecessarily. Anything we can do to improve the health and welfare of Australians should be what this parliament is all about. This legislation does it; this legislation goes in accordance with our target. We have a COAG national health agreement aimed at reducing national smoking rates to 10 per cent of the population by 2018 and halving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking rates. We should support that legislation, and the coalition should hang their heads in shame by playing every side of the street in relation to these bills.

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