Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges:

(a) that the Government introduced legislation ten years ago to allow Australia to become the first country in the world to implement tobacco plain packaging in December 2012;

(b) that the successful landmark tobacco plain packaging policy has saved countless lives;

(c) that tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability;

(d) that in both health and economic terms of tobacco use, disadvantaged groups are hit more than three times harder than others in the community; and

(e) the tireless support and dedication of many in the public health sector, including health workers and the former Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, who fought for the changes to introduce plain packaging; and

(2) notes the comprehensive tobacco plain packaging strategy was multi layered to include:

(a) tobacco plain packaging and graphic health warnings;

(b) rolling tobacco excise increases;

(c) advertising restrictions; and

(d) public health campaigns and quit smoking support.

Ten years on from the introduction of plain package for cigarettes, the impact of this historic and world-leading legislation is clear. The legislation that came into effect in December 2012 was championed by Nicola Roxon as Minister for Health and Ageing in the Rudd government. It was the first of its kind in the world. The legacy of this reform stretches far beyond Australia as it has been adopted by 26 other nations, including peer countries like the UK, France and New Zealand.

As a clinician I have seen the full range of effects of cigarette smoking on the body. Tobacco smoke is a toxic brew of at least 69 known carcinogens with equally toxic effects on every organ of the body. Lung cancer is the most well known, but there are well over 50 other deadly conditions that smoking increases your chance of acquiring. Long-term smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers, and those deaths are not merciful. The number of patients I have treated whose condition has been caused or exacerbated by cigarette smoking is beyond counting: amputees in wheelchairs outside hospital still smoking, cardiac transplant patients with a telltale aroma at a clinic visit, the contrite diabetic who knows cigarettes and high sugars make toxic bedfellows. So alarmed was the Alfred Hospital, where I worked, that it set up a smoking cessation clinic to help patients stop before the op. A range of services were provided, from an initial consultation with a pharmacist to nicotine replacement therapies like gums, sprays, patches, and follow-up phone consultation.

While we focus on the physical effects of smoking, little attention is paid to the tyranny of psychological addiction. In hospital it manifests as occupational violence towards healthcare workers, as nicotine withdrawal in patients can lead to delirium and irritability that, if not managed or recognised, escalate to violence, something I have researched and experienced firsthand. As a practising clinician at the time of these reforms I was proud to be in a country that was spearheading this initiative, and Australians should be proud of these reforms. Before this legislation was passed, 16 per cent of Australians smoked. This number is now less than 11 per cent and falling. There are now one million fewer smokers than there were back in 2012, with attendant health savings that are immeasurable in value.

The scourge of cigarettes is one that disproportionately affects First Nations and culturally diverse communities. It is believed that 23 per cent of the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is driven by smoking. Softer strategies, like educational program and quit lines, are less effective in these communities. We need better health promotion that is tailored to specific groups, but as far as a population-level public health intervention goes plain packaging was a winner. Plain packaging is at the centre of a comprehensive government strategy on smoking that includes rolling excise increases, restrictions on advertising, public health campaigns and greater accessibility to quit lines.

Despite this multifaceted approach, we have much to do. The market has evolved, but government action after a wasted decade under the Liberals has lagged. The plain-packaging legislation was the last major piece of legislation on tobacco control, and inaction on electronic cigarettes has left Australians lacking education and clear guidelines on the new wave of tobacco products. E-cigarettes no longer represent a new frontier in tobacco products, having been around in Australia since the early 2000s. However, messaging from the previous government had been unclear and confusing, leaving consumers unsure about the safety and even legality of these products. Despite the TGA's decision to ban the sale of nicotine vaping products, they remain easy to acquire throughout the country, to the extent that our children in schools are regularly being caught with these products. We recognise that clearer guidelines around vaping are required, and that is why we tasked the TGA to undertake a public consultation process to better understand what the gaps are in the regulatory framework so that we in government can plug them.

As a parliamentarian and as a former clinician, I welcome the new measures announced by the health minister. These include making individual cigarettes with antismoking messages; making cigarettes in unattractive colours; preventing the addition of flavours and menthols to cigarettes; limiting that warm, fuzzy language like 'organic' or 'light'; and introducing new health promotion inserts into every single pack and pouch of tobacco. The plain-packaging laws have been effective, but after 10 years new measures like this will provide the new and stark reminder to smokers about how harmful nicotine actually is.

On vaping, there are new border controls to curb the unlawful supply of these products; pre-market TGA assessment of nicotine vapes to create a regulated source of products for doctors to prescribe and pharmacies to supply; as well as stronger product standards to make nicotine vaping products less attractive to children and adolescents through methods like branding and flavours.

Reflecting on the historic plain-package legislation 10 years on, we celebrate the courage of the Rudd government and Nicola Roxon to take on big tobacco, and we appreciate the value of public health, the quiet achiever in health care, in driving behaviour change across an entire nation.

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