Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Today is World No Tobacco Day. How is the Albanese Labor government reclaiming Australia's rightful position as a world leader on tobacco control?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macarthur for his question. After Mal Washer left this building, the member for Macarthur spearheaded the entry of a number of doctors into this place, on our side particularly and on the crossbench, who, alongside other health professionals in the House of Representatives, add real value to our deliberations on health policy.

Today is, as the member says, World No Tobacco Day. It's a reminder that, in spite of the huge inroads made over many decades, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death and disability here in Australia. It's a reminder that still two million Australians today are daily smokers, with the vast majority of them, we know from research, still wanting to kick the habit. It's a recognition that we face emerging new challenges like vaping—a product deliberately designed to recruit a new generation to nicotine addiction.

Ten years ago, Australia did lead the global fight against tobacco with visionary plain packaging and graphic health warning reforms, and they were hard fought. The Leader of the Opposition, who was health minister at the time, said they were a bridge too far, and big tobacco fought our reforms tooth and nail through the courts. But we prevailed, and those reforms made a real difference. Dozens of countries around the world have followed Australia's lead, and today, here in Australia, there are one million fewer smokers than there were before those reforms.

We on this side of the House know there is more to do, because, while the former government was happy to bank a 152 per cent increase in tobacco excise under their watch, none of that extra revenue was invested in new tobacco control measures—none of it whatsoever. As a result, smoking rates have now flatlined. After decades of decline, smoking rates for the first time in decades have flatlined. Indeed, because of vaping, our youngest Australians are the only cohort in our community where smoking rates are actually increasing.

We on this side are determined to stamp out the marketing strategies of big tobacco put in place to get around the reforms from a decade ago. The Vogue-style fashionable thin cigarettes will go. The menthol bombs and other flavours designed to make cigarettes more tasty will go. The brand names designed to mislead consumers like Cool Crush, Fresh Burst, Smooth Cigarettes will go as well. We on this side are determined to drive down smoking rates even further and to prevent a whole new generation becoming addicted to nicotine.

Today, I've published draft legislation on our website to do just that. We're determined to have that legislation passed by the parliament. A decade ago we had to get the Leader of the Opposition kicking and screaming onto the side of reform. I hope he comes to it quicker this time.