Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, Deputy Speaker, I stand corrected by the member for Boothby on that. The nanny-state postcards that I received were not from the Liberal Party. I should stress that, although the nanny-state campaign was certainly supported by some members opposite. I particularly commend the courage of the former Attorney-General, the member for Gellibrand, Nicola Roxon, for her stance on this.

We put nicotine patches on the PBS, making them more affordable, especially for pensioners and low-income earners. And we have had 111,900 dispensed between February and June, which means lives have been saved because people have stopped smoking. We have the social marketing campaign, under which $85 million was invested in campaigns to encourage Australians to quit smoking. The Quitline investment of $5 million was so that people get the support when they need to get off the darbs.

Obviously, Indigenous communities have been particularly vulnerable to advertising techniques because their smoking rates have increased—particularly for Indigenous women—so we are putting $100 million into Closing the Gap programs across 57 regions in Australia. There has been a record $872 million invested in preventative health programs, including in Tackling Smoking programs through workplaces and councils.

Sadly, the Liberal Party does not have the same view as the Labor Party in terms of refusing endorsements from large companies including Big Tobacco like British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris. With $2 million since 2004, obviously the head of that organisation, Brian Loughnane, has made the decision to keep on accepting that money. Obviously the Leader of the Opposition has made his decision to keep on accepting that money. (Time expired)

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