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

I move:

That the requested amendments be agreed to.

As the House would be aware, the government is committed to reducing the national smoking rate to 10 per cent of the population by 2018 and to halving the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking rate. This bill is a crucial step in the government's antismoking action, which includes a 25 per cent excise increase which was announced in April 2010, record investment in antismoking social marketing campaigns, legislation to restrict advertising of tobacco products on the internet, listing of nicotine replacement therapies on the PBS and investments in Indigenous tobacco control.

The Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill introduced plain packaging, which will remove one of the last remaining forms of tobacco advertising. It will restrict the use of tobacco industry logos, brand imagery, colours and promotional text on tobacco products and their retail packaging.

I am pleased about, and want to acknowledge, the support of the Liberal opposition for this legislation, both here and in the Senate. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives with the accompanying Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill on 21 August, and passed with amendments in the Senate on 10 November.

The government's amendments to the original bill supported in the Senate ensure that there will be sufficient time for the industry to comply before the penalty provisions commence. This followed, of course, the delays in considering the bill in the Senate and intense discussion from the industry asserting that they would not be able to meet the initial time lines in the bill.

The bill, as it currently stands, does not alter the approach to plain packaging of tobacco products but the bill does change the dates following the amendments from the Senate. The bill now proposes that most of the preliminary provisions that previously commenced on 1 January 2012 will now commence on royal assent. The offences relating to prohibition of manufacture of noncompliant product in Australia will now commence on 1 October 2012, and the remaining offences relating to the retail sale of noncompliant product will now commence on 1 December 2012.

In addition, the commencement clauses 17 to 27 are in line with the commencement of the manufacturing offences on 1 October 2012. This is intended to make clear that these provisions have no legal effect independent of the offences in chapter 3 and the enforcement provisions in chapter 5 of the bill. This is supported by the new provision at clause 27A to state that sections 18 to 27 have no legal effect other than to specify requirements, and permit regulations that specify requirements, to be made for the purposes of the definition of 'tobacco product requirement' in the bill.

Finally, paragraph 18(3)(c) addresses a technical implementation issue. It will allow the use of rounded corners on the inside lip to avoid the need for a change to this part of the manufacturing process, which would be difficult to achieve within the proposed implementation time frames.

I am very proud that this legislation has received the support of this House and the Senate. I hope that the Liberal opposition, as they have indicated, will support this change. It means that Australia, next year, will be the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging legislation. Australia, again, will be leading the way, as it has for many decades, in taking tobacco control measures to the next step. I commend this bill, with its amendments, to the House.

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