Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024 before the House, which is to amend the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to prohibit the importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisement of non-therapeutic and disposable vaping goods. I'm happy to do so as I'm horrified by the blatant marketing of vaping to our youth, especially in light of the advice from Australian Medical Association and other reputable health groups regarding the significant risk to the population's health.

This legislation breaks new ground to protect Australians from the harms of vaping, particularly children. Vaping—the act of inhalation and exhalation of vapour produced by electronic cigarettes or similar device—has gained popularity in recent years, especially among adolescents and young adults. However, this trend comes with significant dangers to individual health and to the broader population. Let us address the misconception that vaping is a harmless alternative to traditional smoking. While some may argue that vaping eliminates the harmful tar and chemicals found in cigarettes, it is crucial to recognise that vaping still poses serious health risks.

It is also worth noting that most e-cigarettes in Australia contain nicotine even when their packaging says they don't. Nicotine is a highly addictive and toxic drug that can harm brain development and impact attention, learning and memory and cause changes in mood. Vaping involves inhaling a plethora of harmful chemicals, including listed poisons, heavy metals such as nickel and chromium, and chemical by-products produced during heating. We're advised by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that acrolein, aldehydes and polycyclic hydrocarbons are probably carcinogenic, while nicotine derivatives are known carcinogens in humans. Further, low concentrations of toxic chemicals in vaping substances convert to high concentrations when aerosolised after heating and as the chemicals combine.

Evidence suggests that vaping by nonsmokers results in dependence and that vaping can cause respiratory disease, severe burns, poisoning, seizures, acute nicotine toxicity and increased uptake of cigarette smoking. Furthermore, the long-term effects of vaping are still not fully understood, making it risky behaviour with potentially dire consequences for those who engage in it. Labor has a long history of pioneering tobacco control reforms, dating back 50 years to the Whitlam government's introduction of restrictions on tobacco advertising. That legacy certainly continued with the introduction of Australia's world-leading tobacco plain-packaging reforms over 10 years ago.

The Pearce electorate includes many families and a growing youth population. The 2021 census registered in excess of 23,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24, so I find the evidence of increasing vaping to be a worrying trend that certainly requires our attention. Given these findings, it is not surprising that grave concern is widespread amongst public health policymakers and practitioners about the increased use of marketing and vaping goods. There are reports from parents, teachers and doctors that nicotine dependence is impacting learning behaviours and wellbeing in our schools. The Australian Dental Association warns that vaping may cause oral health issues. The use of vapes can mean a decreased blood supply to gum tissue, which can result in difficulty getting oxygen and nutrients to this important tissue as well as trouble healing, increasing the risk of gum disease, which often results in significant tooth loss.

Vaping is rapidly rising in Australia—which is of great concern—among our youth and young adults, who are particularly susceptible to the allure of vaping, thanks in part to clever marketing tactics that glamorise vaping as a trendy and harmless activity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing intentionally targets youth and young adults, with advertising spending often focused on social media promotion, allowing for lower costs and wider reach. Flavoured e-cigarettes in particular have been heavily marketed toward the youth, enticing them with flavours like strawberry, ice mango, blueberry, grape and watermelon. This has led to a concerning rise in vaping among teenagers, with many viewing it as a harmless habit or even a social status symbol. However, once again, the reality is far from benign. Nicotine addiction impairs brain development and is a gateway to traditional smoking. These are just some of the dangers that young vapers face.

We cannot sit idly by while our youth fall victim to the deceptive allure of vaping. We must educate our young people about the dangers of vaping, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their own health. The Albanese Labor government is implementing a comprehensive range of regulatory and non-regulatory measures in parallel with this bill. The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 from 1 April 2024 streamlines and modernises existing Commonwealth tobacco control laws. It also extends advertising regulations to vaping goods and includes new tobacco excise measures, which were announced last year, to further reduce the affordability of tobacco products. The government will also provide $29.5 million over four years to help Australians quit, and it will invest a further $63.4 million in public health information campaigns to discourage Australians from taking up vaping and smoking and to encourage quitting. The government will provide $141.2 million to extend the successful Tackling Indigenous Smoking program to reduce the uptake of vaping and reduce smoking among First Nations people. Funding also includes support for regulatory and enforcement activities, with $56.9 million for the Therapeutic Goods Administration and $25 million for the Australian Border Force.

The new ban on possession includes an exception for personal use, including young Australians who are being deliberately targeted. This bill is not about penalising vape users, whether they be adults or children. The focus of the bill is to criminalise the illicit importation, manufacture, supply, advertisement and commercial possession of vapes, to help protect young Australians. I want to repeat that: the focus of the bill is to criminalise the illicit importation, manufacture, supply, advertisement and commercial possession of vapes. The priority is to help protect young Australians.

Vaping poses a great threat to the health and wellbeing of our people. It is not a harmless habit but, rather, a dangerous addiction with potentially life-altering consequences. We are committed to measures that will ban all vapes, other than therapeutic vapes imported, manufactured or supplied in accordance with the Therapeutic Goods Act. It is important to note that this bill does not take away the ability for patients to legitimately access therapeutic vapes to help them quit smoking or manage their nicotine dependency. If that is deemed to be clinically appropriate for a patient, then so be it. As the Australian Medical Association has stated, the government's reforms will support people to cease smoking and/or vaping by retaining access to prescription e-cigarettes and making these more accessible to patients, where clinically appropriate, through any GP—and GPs are experts in smoking cessation—and backed by new guidelines that are well placed to help patients quit.

We are committed to Australia's international obligations as a party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, under which parties are obliged to develop and implement effective policies to prevent and reduce tobacco consumption and exposure and nicotine addiction. As a cancer survivor myself, it is clear to me that the health risks posed by vaping are totally unacceptable. I urge you all to support the bill. I'd also like to share a story with you. My young grandson is a type 1 diabetic, and it's very clear in the research that vaping increases spiking in type 1 diabetics, which is life threatening in itself. Please, I urge you to support the bill to help protect our youth from the dangers of vaping and ensure a healthier future for generations to come. I commend the bill to the House.

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