Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability in our country, so I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023. After a wasted decade, this government said that we wouldn't waste a day, and this is one of the reasons that we've brought this bill to the House. Research estimates that two in three lifetime smokers will die from disease caused by their smoking. It remains the leading cause of cancer in our community. There are very few people that have not in some way been impacted by smoking related disease. That can include lung cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer, and all can be related to tobacco related diseases.

It costs Australia approximately 20,000 lives per year. This is a really sad number. It's not only the people who lose their lives to cancer related illness; it's the people they leave behind. My colleague was explaining to me how her father passed away from lung disease at the age of 70. Considering what the life expectancy is of Australians, that's really quite sad. I think that everyone would prefer to have their parents on this planet for as long as possible. The community impact is widespread, and this is fundamentally something that we can prevent. Smoking related disease also places a heavy burden on our healthcare system, and there's an economic cost that could be diverted elsewhere into research on other preventable diseases.

What is also a concern to me is the discrepancy between the rates of smoking for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Information from the Cancer Council reveals that while smoking rates across Australia have declined substantially over the past decade to about 15 per cent of the population, among the most disadvantaged groups rates are up to five times higher than the average population. While tobacco use has decreased over time, it remains much higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. About 45 per cent of our First Nations Australians smoke, compared to around 15 per cent for non-Indigenous Australians. Once again, we see a gap that needs to be closed. These rates of tobacco use are a major contributing factor to poor health incomes among our First Nations Australians. This means that the most disadvantaged groups in Australia bear a disproportionate share of tobacco related illnesses.

If we close the gap on smoking, we can improve the health outcomes for the most vulnerable people in our community, and I am super passionate about closing these gaps. Reducing smoking rates in these populations is an important and pressing public issue. Therefore, any measures that aim to do this should be wholeheartedly welcomed by the House. Putting in place effective measures to improve the lives of all Australians is the goal of this government, and these new laws aim to curb smoking and addiction to tobacco products. These are the biggest anti-smoking reforms in 12 years.

When we legislated our original plain-packaging rules, the world was looking at Australia. These were some of the biggest reforms that we had seen across the world, and, once again, Labor led the way to show that this is something that we can do. We can look at the marketing mechanism and actually reduce the rates of people smoking. These latest changes will require cigarette and vape packages to include health warnings. Under these new laws, individual cigarettes will carry warnings about the danger of the habit. Under these laws, the use of additives such as methanol will be banned.

We have also seen the rise of tobacco related products such as e-cigarettes. We have a commitment to improving the health of all Australians; however, the prevalence of vaping among our young Australians is now becoming a nationwide problem, and urgent action is needed. The latest research found that smoking and vaping cause eye problems in young people. An international study from Canada's McGill University found that people that smoke a combination of vapes and cigarettes have a higher likelihood of developing eye issues.

The use of e-cigarettes has become more common among both smokers and non-smokers. It's become more common across all age groups but, in particular, young people. We're seeing that this is a problem that high schools are needing to tackle. This is a concern for all of us, including parents. E-cigarettes are recognised as a pathway for people taking up smoking. While we've reduced the number of people smoking significantly in recent decades, e-cigarettes are now seen as a newfangled product that teenagers are fascinated to look at. But, once again, what it's doing is normalising smoking. Some of these e-cigarettes and vapes have added additives and flavouring, such as glycerol, propylene glycol and sorbitol, which makes them more toxic. Additives to tobacco products can amplify the effects of nicotine on the brain, making them even more addictive.

The flavours include cherry, menthol, strawberry—it sounds a bit like candy or ice cream. What they're trying to do is improve the user's experience of the tobacco product and make it more difficult for people to actually quit and also make it more marketable to young people by making it look like it's not what it really is. The truth is it's toxic chemicals that people are pumping into their systems.

Plain packaging has meant that the tobacco industry has had to devise clever strategies to market its products. Essentially, that's what I see e-cigarettes doing. Unconsciously, they are targeting children and, unfortunately, it is working. The National Health Survey data indicated that just under one in 12 Australians aged between 15 and 17 reported using an e-cigarette or vaping device at least once during 2020-21. This number is rising based on all the current trends.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12 : 05 to 12 : 23

The tobacco companies have made a field day of targeting teenagers to increase their market share. It's something they're doing very intentionally, and it's something we need to be very cognisant of, particularly as legislators of this country. These companies make packaging child-friendly to appeal to teenagers. They're wanting to make smoking appear to be cool and acceptable again. The packaging is relatively discreet, so they don't look like cigarettes, which allows children to hide their e-cigarettes from their parents and their teachers.

The tobacco industry has spent millions, if not billions, defining and measuring the harshness experienced by a person during inhalation of their products—the roughness or the rawness in someone's mouth or throat. So, they've started to add sugars and other additives to basically design and manipulate the appearance of the harshness of the smoke on the mouth and throat. They go as far as to add extra chemicals in order to change the nature of the smoke by improving the aroma so that the experience is perceived to be more appealing to the smoker and to those standing by. It's sneaky, it's manipulative, and it's fundamentally about getting more and more people hooked on smoking so that the tobacco companies can increase their market share so that they can increase the sale of their products. The truth is, if they didn't disguise it, people would see it for what it truly is.

When I was growing up my father was a smoker, and as a kid I knew instinctively that it was a toxic habit. If you're honest, cigarette smoke doesn't really smell that pretty. One of the great things when I became a young adult was that we used to go out to the pub or to nightclubs, but you'd go home and you'd smell like an ashtray because of all the public smoking that used to happen in those venues. One of the great things that happened was when we banned smoking in those venues because nobody wanted to smell like an ashtray. It was so not the kind of thing that people wanted to do. But now that the tobacco companies have worked out that people don't want to smell like ashtrays, they're instead making smells—like cherry, like strawberries, these fresh fruity aromas that sound like candy.

This is about the market and increasing profits. We need to change our thinking about the way we control tobacco in our country, and we need laws that adapt to the current trends. We need to stay ahead of the big tobacco companies. Australia has a great legacy of being able to do this. We need to have a look at being a leader to make sure we look after our public and our community firsthand. We do this by listening, learning and responding to what's happening amongst our youth and amongst our community, especially those in Indigenous communities.

The government has recognised that a renewed focus on improving the health of all Australians is needed and hence we need this legislation. The community needs to understand that it's about more than just preventing kids from vaping at school. The new laws will allow Australia to reinforce its position in the world as a leader on the control of tobacco. The things we're looking at include updating and improving the health warnings. We're looking at improving coverage and enforcement and compliance by tobacco companies. We want to restrict the use of additives and regulate product design features. We want to make sure we restrict the use of brand names and insert the health promotion measures to help people quit, and also look at mandatory disclosure of all the ingredients.

This is one of the reasons the national peak medical body, the Australian Medical Association, as well as the Australian College of General Practitioners, are for the large part supporting the government's initiatives contained in this bill. Stronger regulation and enforcement of all e-cigarettes comes after a public consultation process in response to increased e-cigarette usage by children. The range of tobacco control measures, on top of the plain packaging of tobacco, will help the government achieve this aim.

There has never been a more important time to introduce this bill to parliament, because Australia's current tobacco related measures are split across eight different laws, regulations, instruments and court decisions. For example, the government is prohibiting certain forms of tobacco advertising. That's now 30 years old. But we are sorting out the convoluted patchwork of regulations, because we can no longer have smokers falling through the cracks. This bill brings tobacco measures together with 11 new measures into a single streamlined and effective act of parliament, which will re-ignite the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction. The government is taking action for the benefit of the health of all Australians. Basically we've set an aim to reduce the national smoking rate to less than 10 per cent by 2025 and to five per cent or less by 2030, with the aim of reducing the rate to 27 per cent among First Nations people by 2030. It's one of the reasons that the national peak medical body and the Australian Medical Association are leaders and are supporting this bill. I think that these laws will help the government to achieve this aim. Really, this is about the future of our children. It's about the future of the health of our people in Australia, so I commend this bill to the House.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let be there no question, the coalition supports any measure to improve the health of all Australians. The intent of the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 is right. However, I question whether this bill does enough. In fact, I can see the measures resulting in perverse outcomes for our nation. Mandating new graphic warnings on packaging, including external warnings, banning packets of certain sizes, banning specified additives and other measures put forward by this bill are all well and good; however, what we don't want to see is an increase in black market sales. I fear these measures could cause that, on top of Labor's legislated five per cent increase in tobacco excise, per year, for the next three years.

We need to acknowledge that there is an unprecedented illegal market operating for tobacco and nicotine vapes around the country. In Melbourne alone, Victoria Police report that there have been at least 29 arson attacks linked to the illegal tobacco trade in Melbourne over the last six months. One in four cigarettes sold now comes from the black market and more then 90 per cent of vaping products are illegally purchased. Australia's black market, unfortunately, is thriving. The current laws do nothing but encourage that criminal behaviour. Unscrupulous individuals sell their products to anyone, including children, with funds used to bankroll even more nefarious activities.

The minister's bill serves to make products he is seeking to ban all that more enticing for the black market. Meanwhile, the Albanese government has refused to provide a single extra dollar for illegal tobacco and vape enforcement, while state police are too busy dealing with burglaries, drug dealers and other criminal elements. With no funding and no plan from the Albanese government to crack down on the black market, authorities have neither the powers, the time nor the resources to police federally, through border control, or through the police at a state level, this huge and growing illegal market.

I will take this opportunity to say I have major concerns about how prevalent these products are among our young people. A recent study found one in four Australians aged 14 to 17 have vaped and 5.7 per cent of teens surveyed class themselves as regular vapers. Those are shocking numbers. Parents and grandparents are deeply concerned about their children and grandchildren vaping.

An estimated 90 million unregulated, illegal Chinese vapes, per year, are flooding into Australia with no product standards, no packaging requirements and no safety standards, all readily available in local stores and online on the black market. With 500 million containers a year flooding through our ports, the Australian Border Force is not equipped to stop every illegal shipment. It is a simple fact. We need measures at federal and state level that stop our children being able to access these colourful, sweet-smelling vapes filled with dangerous chemicals, clearly marketed for them. Current vaping laws are clearly being ignored on an industrial scale. These laws require an adult vaper to go to a doctor to get a prescription, and then find one of the very few pharmacies that stock vaping products. They were well-meaning laws at the time when they were introduced by the former Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, but the landscape has changed. If people cannot get a prescription or see a doctor, the prevalence of the black market trade in vapes makes it simple for them to access. This bill only empowers that trade. The intention of the Minister for Health and Aged Care to ban non-prescription vaping in Australia would result in the same outcome.

The Nationals firmly believe that we should be learning from the past and regulate vapes as we have done with cigarettes. Prohibition of a mainstream adult product has never worked and will never work. However, when Australia regulated cigarettes, we saw an 80 per cent reduction in juvenile cigarette use. The outcome of regulating cigarettes gives a precedent for a path forward. Regulating the sale of vapes to adults will disincentivise the black market. Australia's regulatory model for cigarettes has been proven to work in protecting our children, and we must take the same pragmatic approach to regulate vapes.

According to the RACGP, Australia is the only country in the world to restrict access to vaping products on a prescription-only basis. All other Western democracies regulate vaping products as a controlled adult consumer product. While the Minister for Health and Aged Care may claim this tobacco bill is at the forefront of global tobacco control, the reality is it is half-baked and does not go far enough. Aside from advertising and sponsorship bans on vaping products, which are welcomed, it does nothing to address Australia's rampant vaping crisis. The only way to fix that crisis is to extend this tobacco control bill to regulate vaping products in the same way as tobacco.

Recently commissioned research by the RedBridge Group has found nearly 90 per cent of Australians agree or strongly agree that regulated nicotine vaping products should be sold through licensed retail outlets the same way as alcohol and tobacco products, and 68 per cent of Australians see government regulation of nicotine vapes as poor or very poor. The Albanese Labor government must move the dial on that perception. One thing is for sure: this current bill will not do it. Without change, the health minister's tobacco bill will do nothing to fix Australia's rampant unregulated vaping black market.

On tobacco itself, we must acknowledge this serious social and economic problem too, even as we navigate a newer landscape with the prevalence of vapes. Estimates from FTI Consulting show almost one-quarter of tobacco consumption in Australia in 2022 was illegal, resulting in a revenue loss of $4.2 billion. Imagine what that could fund. These figures highlight the critical need for the Albanese Labor government to implement policy measures to capture that lost revenue. Will this bill do that? It will not. In fact, it is more likely to drive up the illegal trade.

That illegal trade is already prevalent. Victoria has been a popular target for gangs to grow tobacco, allegedly, at places like Nhill—in my electorate of Mallee—Broadford and the Goulburn Valley. In 2021, officers from the multi-agency Illicit Tobacco Taskforce uncovered more than 40 hectares of the plant growing on properties either side of the Victoria-New South Wales border near Swan Hill, also in Mallee. The potential value of that haul was estimated at $84.3 million. Just last year, in the Riverina, a New South Wales police operation led to $42 million worth of illicit tobacco being found and destroyed. Never mind the importers; the crimes are also being committed right here on our shores.

The road map to fix Australia's illegal tobacco crisis has already been written, with bipartisan support, through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry into illicit tobacco. The PJCLE report recommended Australia's rampant illegal tobacco market, with an organised criminal element driving it, should become a law enforcement issue, not a policy area for the Department of Health and Aged Care. The report also recommended a national strategy on illegal tobacco; legislative reform; and funding to support law enforcement agencies across the federal, state and territory governments to crack down on the organised criminal gangs flooding Australia with cheap, illegal tobacco products. This inquiry was established by the former coalition government, with a government response published in November 2020. However, under the Albanese government, not a single recommendation has been progressed, despite the four Labor MPs and senators who participated in the inquiry endorsing the recommendations. Here we are, right now in this chamber, still talking about the health issues rather than the enforcement issues.

Former CEO of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Mike Phelan said:

As the cost of legal tobacco products continues to rise through frequent increases in excise, serious and organised crime groups are taking advantage of the opportunity to make more illicit profits.

The Police Federation of Australia president, Scott Weber, says that Australia has taxed tobacco into making it illicit. This bill simply makes the black market a more viable option for those who want to sell their products.

The minister needs to listen to his experts. I note this bill has been referred to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, with a report due on 22 November. Once that process is finished, there will possibly be amendments. However, at this time, my Nationals colleagues and I are calling for a pragmatic approach when it comes to vaping. It is time to treat vapes just as we have been treating cigarettes so successfully.

Vaping is a scourge on our youth, just like cigarettes are. Australia solved the latter through regulation, a method which we can repeat when it comes to vapes. Regulation will curtail the criminally run black market trade that is so rampant when it comes to vaping. It will also ease the burden on our health system, cutting down on the need for vaping users to clog up our general practice waiting rooms. From there, we can seek to fully address other health issues. I reiterate that the intent of this bill is right, but I caution the minister about unintended consequences and call on this parliament to have a serious discussion about a better way forward.

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023. Tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability in Australia. It is a sad problem, and tackling this remains one of the great unfinished challenges of our times. But this government is committed to doing its part to continue to push forward and meet the challenge in the many modern forms it takes.

When Labor was last in government 10 years ago, it launched the plain packaging reform. Since then, there's been a drop in smoking rates equivalent to one million fewer Australians smoking. This government will recognise what has worked in the past and improve on what has not. Our current tobacco related measures are split across as many as eight different laws, regulations, instruments and court decisions. For example, the government's legislation prohibiting certain forms of tobacco advertising is now 30 years old. This convoluted patchwork of regulations has created gaps and has meant that the regulations have failed to meet their potential.

This bill brings together tobacco measures with 11 new measures into a single streamlined and effective act of parliament which will strength the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction. It consolidates various tobacco related laws, regulations and instruments and formalises requirements previously addressed through the court enforceable undertakings. It modifies and simplifies additional provisions and introduces new measures to discourage smoking and tobacco use and prevent the promotion of e-cigarettes. The bill supports the National Tobacco Strategy 2023-2030, which commits to reducing daily smoking prevalence to below 10 per cent by 2025 and five per cent by 2030. It also prioritises tackling smoking in First Nations communities to reduce smoking rates to 27 per cent by 2030.

Without action by government, current tobacco control measures are unlikely to achieve these targets. That's why the Albanese government is introducing a suite of tobacco control reforms to provide a renewed focus on improving the public health of Australians by discouraging smoking and the use of tobacco or e-cigarette products. We'll do this by updating and improving graphic health warnings on packaging to better inform consumers of the effects of tobacco use. We will do this by improving coverage, enforcement and compliance for tobacco control through updating advertising restrictions, definitions and the movement to the civil penalties regime. We will do this by expanding existing advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly for young and vulnerable people.

We will also restrict the use of additives and ingredients that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products by bettering the regulation of production design features that make tobacco products more attractive to consumers, including crush balls and novel filters. We will also do this by prohibiting the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm, by requiring health promotion inserts to encourage and empower people who smoke to quit, by enforcing the mandatory disclosure of sales volume and pricing, as well as expenditure on advertising and promotion, and by putting in place dissuasive measures on factory-made cigarettes to help increase knowledge of health harms of smoking, reduce the appeal of smoking, reduce smoking uptake and encourage smoking cessation. As you can see, we're taking a substantial amount of action on the issue, because we know this is a serious issue and we are treating it that way.

The government is also committed to introducing new controls on e-cigarette importation, contents and packaging. We will work with the states and territories to address the black market for e-cigarettes through the therapeutic goods framework and through stronger border measures. The bill modernises our regulation of tobacco products consistent with the international best practice, ensuring Australia remains at the forefront of public health and tobacco control.

The bill specifies a number of requirements that tobacco products must comply with, including requirements and limitations relating to plain packaging, health warnings and the terms that can be used on product packaging. In addition, the bill facilitates the minister imposing a permanent ban on chewing tobacco and snuffs intended for oral use, consistent with the existing ban in the Trade Practices Act 1974 Consumer Protection Notice No. 10 of 1991, 'Permanent Ban on Goods'. The bill obliges certain persons to report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care on a variety of matters, including ingredients used in tobacco products, volumes of sales, imports, marketing and promotional expenditure. The minister is required to publish these reports or part thereof if it is appropriate in the circumstances to do so.

A range of compliance and enforcement powers are provided for this bill, including by applying the regulatory powers in the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 to ensure an enhanced compliance with new laws. Among other things, new civil penalty provisions have been introduced for greater flexibility to facilitate compliance with legislative requirements without the need to resort to criminal prosecution. The new maximum penalty for bodies corporate, which is 10 times higher than the maximum penalty for individuals, has also been included to deter noncompliance by ensuring that a penalty cannot be considered an acceptable cost of doing business.

The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 deals with the consequential and transitional matters arising from the enactment of this bill. It provides application, savings and transitional provisions to allow a smooth transition to the new requirements, including a main transitional period of 12 months, along with a retailer transition of a further three months. The introduction and passage of these bills during the 2023 spring sitting period is required to support the timely implementation of these measures prior to the sunsetting of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations 2011 and the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Regulation 1993 on 1 April 2024.

Regulatory burdens are likely to be most concentrated on the tobacco industry, with minimal impacts on retailers or individual users. These impacts on industry will include the cost of planning and modifying the manufacturing process. However, this government knows that it can look out for the health and wellbeing of its citizens while also being economically responsible. Due to the high costs resulting from tobacco use, including health, economic, social and environmental costs, it would require just 73 people to permanently quit smoking to cover the $21.77 million annual placeholder estimate for the regulatory burden. As 73 people represent approximately 0.028 per cent of the Australian smoking people, this means that the benefits of lower smoking rates are likely to offset the regulatory burden estimates if the policies encourage just one out of every 37,420 smokers to quit. The Albanese government has consulted broadly on these reforms and the draft of this legislative scheme. Briefings have been provided to all interested parties.

From 31 May 2023 the department of health conducted a public submission process seeking stakeholder feedback on the proposed reforms, including exposure drafts. Targeted consultation workshops with key stakeholders were also conducted. Online submissions were received from individual consumers, academics, public health organisations, state and territory health departments, Commonwealth agencies, tobacco manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, packagers and retailers. In general, public health stakeholders were supportive of the proposed reforms and amendments to the draft legislation, and some concerns were addressed. These included changes to the definition of an e-cigarette to ensure that vaping devices which resemble toys, food, drinks, cartoon characters, animals, musical instruments—the list goes on—are captured by the advertising and sponsorship prohibition.

Additionally, changes were made to the definition of 'prohibited term' to ensure that terms that imply a positive quality are captured. The bill provides limits on matters that will be included in the delegated legislation. The provisions in the bill specify the subject content and, in turn, what is included in the regulations. Some of the provisions in the bill relating to retail-packaging requirements include the content of tobacco information standard, which will be in the regulations. Due to its nature in including the level of detail, this material is more appropriately contained in an instrument rather than an act of parliament.

As a public health measure, directing to discourage the uptake and encouraging the cessation of smoking, the product and packaging requirements need to be adaptable. The substantive ability to prescribe such requirements are included in the bill, while the requirements themselves will be contained in the regulations, which are subject to disallowance. This supports an approach that is adaptive to an evolving public health issue, contemporary political advice and changes in technology and the market more generally. These reforms are supported by robust evidence of the impact of the measures on smoking. The long-term objectives are to reduce the prevalence by reducing uptake with a particular focus on youths and young adults. These measures will further strengthen gains made by Australia's world-leading reforms, such as plain packaging.

Labor has a proud history when it comes to tobacco control and is creating world-leading policy. We know this because 26 countries have followed Australia's example on plain packaging. Australia was once a world leader on tobacco control, and we will be again. The 11 measures in the government's tobacco reforms will put us back into a world-leading position alongside fellow OECD nations such as New Zealand and Canada. The Albanese government is determined to do all it can to tackle the harms that are caused by smoking. We want to ensure that in the future people don't take up smoking in the first place. I commend the bill to the House.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tobacco consumption has exacted a devastating toll on Australians over the last five decades, resulting in health, economic and societal damage. Despite a steady decline in smoking rates since the 1960s, the legacy of decades of widespread tobacco use lingers in the form of a significant burden on the health system.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data from the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, around 11 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over reported being current daily smokers. This represents a significant reduction from 1991, when it was 24.3 per cent, and it is a good result from the comprehensive tobacco control measures implemented in Australia.

Smoking-related illnesses, as we know, include cancers, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular conditions, which continue to claim lives, strain healthcare resources and impact families. My family was impacted when my nonno passed away from emphysema. Having grown up in a different era, he was one of those people that smoked regularly. It's also the economic cost of tobacco related harm in terms of lost productivity and increased healthcare expenditures. They remain substantial.

The Public Health (Tobacco And Other Products) Bill 2023 and the accompanying Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 have been designed to streamline tobacco regulation in Australia. The bill will also expand the existing advertising restrictions to apply to e-cigarettes, also known as vapes; introduce new measures with respect to tobacco packaging; and introduce new reporting requirements for the tobacco industry. This includes restrictions on advertising and promotion to reduce the allure of these products. It mandates the requirement for plain packaging of tobacco products, including stringent regulations on the appearance, content and standards of the tobacco products, to further discourage their consumption. The bill establishes provisions for compliance and enforcement, including the appointment of authorised officers and civil penalty provisions, to ensure that the regulations are followed. The bill includes various provisions related to delegations and constitutional matters.

A division having been cal led in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:56 to 16:00

As you would imagine, stakeholders such as the Cancer Council, the AMA, the Royal Australian College of GPs and the Public Health Association of Australia all expressed their support for the aims of this bill. However, the RACGP did bring up an important issue of enforcement process for social media platforms that are hosted overseas, such as TikTok. They suggested that it would require clarity and funding. They have sought clarification.

In 2012, Australia became the first country to implement plain-packaging laws, a step in the global fight against tobacco use. Both Labor and coalition governments have consistently raised tobacco excise taxes to reduce affordability and discourage smoking, further demonstrating our bipartisan commitment to addressing this critical public health issue. In addition to plain packaging, graphic health warnings have been introduced on tobacco products, discouraging consumption by highlighting the devastating effects of smoking related diseases. The National Tobacco Strategy 2012-2018 outlined Australia's commitment to reducing tobacco related harm. The coalition government continued implementing and evaluating this strategy to achieve its objectives.

While the coalition supports the intent of this bill, it is essential to note that the Senate committee inquiry has commenced with a reporting date of 22 November. Any significant issues that arise from this report should be taken into consideration. The bills do not address the stronger regulation of e-cigarette availability, vapes and supply. They only seek to prohibit certain forms of e-cigarette advertisements and sponsorships.

I'm sure many other members have the same experience I do when talking to every school principal we meet—particularly in high schools but, worryingly, even primary schools—about the challenge of vapes in their schools. Many are resorting to locking their bathrooms during class hours or having a teacher accompanying students to the bathroom—this means students can't sneak out—such is the uptake of vapes among young people at the moment.

It is with disappointment that I note this bill does not address the rampant and growing issue of the illegal tobacco trade in our country. This bill would be an opportunity to address the illegal tobacco trade in Australia as it poses a serious threat to public health, government revenue and the very objective that the public health bill seeks to achieve. The illegal tobacco market not only undermines the effectiveness of existing tobacco control measures, but also significantly impacts government revenue and encourages a thriving black market. This is something that I've seen in my electorate of Casey. Many residents reach out, concerned when one of these new stores opens up. In Victoria in particular, and I am sure this also happens in other states, we've seen a concerning level of increase in violence and in fire bombings, and this has all been linked to the illegal tobacco trade. And when one of these illegal stores goes into a community, it also has a perverse impact on those businesses that are legally selling tobacco products because they see their revenues significantly drop.

The challenge with this is many people with small family businesses have invested significant money into their businesses and they're doing the right thing, but they are potentially faced with the choice of continuing to follow the law and go bankrupt or looking to put illegal tobacco into their stores just to compete. That's not a criticism of these people, because they've been put in a tough situation. This is something that we need to address.

While the bill focuses on imposing penalties for noncompliance with legal tobacco regulations, it falls short when it comes to deterring and penalising those involved in the illicit tobacco trade. The penalties for engaging in this illicit, illegal activity remain largely unchanged, even in the face of these growing threats that it presents. To effectively combat this illegal trade requires not only strict penalties but also proactive measures aimed at dismantling the illegal tobacco networks that thrive in the shadows. These networks operate with relative impunity, undermining public health objectives and costing the government significant revenue.

Most illegal tobacco is smuggled in from overseas. This makes it a federal issue. The existence of a thriving black market for tobacco products undermines the effectiveness of tobacco control measures, such as excise taxes and plain packaging laws. The illegal tobacco trade often involves organised crime and money laundering, contributing to a broader range of criminal activities across our society. Addressing this must be an integral part of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy. Significantly increasing penalties associated with illegal tobacco trade needs to be given appropriate consideration. This would not only serve as a deterrent but also allow for more effective legal action against those involved in this illicit activity.

Coordinated efforts between law enforcement agencies, border control and other relevant authorities is essential to dismantle these illicit tobacco networks. Given the global nature of the illegal tobacco trade, international collaboration with countries where these products are manufactured or trafficked is also crucial. To ensure the success of these public health measures, it is imperative that we tackle the illicit tobacco trade with equal vigour. Without addressing the growing black market, this bill risks not being worth the paper it is written on. It is important that we get it right.

The bill's objectives can only be fully achieved through a coordinated, comprehensive and robust effort to combat this growing problem. It is our hope that these concerns will be taken into serious consideration to safeguard the health and wellbeing of Australians and the economic interests of our nation. I look forward to the findings of the upcoming Senate committee inquiry and the actions that come out of that inquiry. Together, we can make important advancements in protecting the health and wellbeing of all Australians.

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

I rise to speak on the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill, a bill that builds on the pioneering tobacco control reforms introduced by past Labor governments, including Australia's world-leading tobacco plain packaging reforms. I would just like to give a special shout-out to Nicola Roxon, whose commitment saved and changed lives. She was able to translate her personal family experience into legislation, which flowed on to global action, which I will touch on in my speech.

This bill consolidates the existing Commonwealth tobacco control framework into one act with associated regulations, thereby streamlining the operation of the laws. It modernises and simplifies the existing provisions and introduces new measures to discourage smoking and addresses the health risks posed by vaping and e-cigarette products. I heard the member for Casey raise concerns about illegal tobacco, and I do share some of those concerns. I've heard that same concern from retailers in my area. I'm hoping the federal government can step up some of the border control measures when it comes to chop-chop being brought into Australia.

But in talking about this legislation, this is not the first time I've stood and talked about plain packaging of tobacco. That was a great Labor government policy, and it was achieved despite some fierce opposition from the Liberal and National parties. And I note that the National Party still takes money from big tobacco—amazing. When Nicola Roxon introduced plain packaging, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked on a daily basis. Today that rate is down to 11 per cent and was heading south for quite a while. That's the equivalent of one million fewer Australians smoking, one million lives changed, because of government intervention.

When the current Minister for Health, the Hon. Mark Butler, introduced this bill he said that, despite previous reforms, tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians. It's estimated to kill more than 20,000 Australians each year. It's also the risk factor that's the greatest contributor to the health gap between First Nations people and non-indigenous Australians. The health impacts of these reforms will mean that tens of thousands of families will never have to experience the pain of seeing a loved one suffer with lung cancer and that vast range of other disorders caused by smoking, including emphysema, which my good friend, with whom I've recently written a book, suffers from. Hopefully these measures will save many, many lives.

While Australia's plain packaging measures have made it harder for the tobacco industry to promote its products via packaging and brand design features, big tobacco has found new loopholes to promote its products and to increase their appeal, particularly to young people. And, as the member for Casey said, organised criminals are trying to make the most of this strong Australian legislation through criminal activities. So, once again it's up to a Labor government to close the loopholes that undermine our tobacco control measures.

In a previous life, when I was an adviser to the Queensland health minister, Stephen Robinson, back in the early noughties, the Queensland Labor government introduced the toughest smoking and tobacco laws in Australia. Back then, the first phase included smoking bans at major sporting venues, on patrolled beaches and in children's playgrounds, and there were strict controls on tobacco retailing. Queensland went on to make it illegal to smoke in any indoor area of pubs and clubs and any commercial outdoor eating or drinking area. There were many naysayers back then, but no-one could deny that Queensland is a healthier place, and no-one would consider taking the Sunshine State back to the bad old days of smoke-filled restaurants and bars. Even a party that is grifting off big tobacco wouldn't propose that, surely.

Labor's current commitment is consistent with Australia's obligations as a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is an international treaty that aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. Our commitment ensures that Australian laws keep up with novel and emerging products and novel and emerging marketing strategies, particularly to young people. So, this bill modernises, simplifies and streamlines our regulation of tobacco products, keeping up with international best practice. The tobacco regulations that were put in place by the Gillard Labor government in 2011—which, by my calculation, was about 20 prime ministers ago!—unfortunately expire on 1 April 2024. This means that the current suite of regulations for plain packaging and tobacco advertising will lapse. There has never been a more important time to introduce this bill to the parliament.

As I mentioned earlier, Australia's current tobacco related measures are split across as many as eight different laws, regulations, instruments and court decisions. For example, the Commonwealth government's legislation prohibiting certain forms of tobacco advertising is now 30 years old. This convoluted patchwork of regulations, with gaps, has meant that smokers are falling through the cracks. This bill brings together tobacco measures along with 11 new measures into a single streamlined and effective act of parliament, which will re-ignite the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction. The bill complements the National Tobacco Strategy2023-2030, which aims to achieve a national daily smoking prevalence of less than 10 per cent by next year and five per cent or less by 2030, and to reduce the daily smoking rate among First Nations people down to 27 per cent or below by 2030.

Australia's Commonwealth tobacco control framework, including the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act, the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act and all their associated regulations, have been the subject of a lengthy review to make sure they're fit for purpose. The review involved a comprehensive analysis of options to modernise the existing legislative framework for tobacco control, ensuring it addresses current gaps in limitations and assists with tackling future challenges in tobacco control. Without further action by government, including the new measures proposed in the bill in front of the chamber, it would be very unlikely that the current tobacco control measures would achieve the targets that I mentioned before.

Among other things, the bill before the chamber will: provide for updated and improved health warnings on tobacco products to better inform consumers about the effects of tobacco use; improve coverage, enforcement and compliance for tobacco control through updated advertising restrictions, definitions and the introduction of the civil penalties regime; expand advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to the advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly those marketed towards young and vulnerable people; restrict the use of additives and ingredients that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products; better regulate product design features that are known to make tobacco products more attractive to consumers, including crush balls and novel filters; restrict the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm; include health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit; and include the mandatory disclosure of tobacco product ingredients, sales volume and pricing data, and advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditure. I'm sure there will also be a complementary targeting of illegal tobacco coming into Australia under the minister—not the health minister, obviously.

These reforms represent a renewed focus on improving the public health of Australians by discouraging smoking and the use of tobacco products, while also bringing them lockstep with the vaping measures that the Minister for Health announced back in May this year. The Albanese government has consulted broadly on the proposed reforms. We held a six-week public consultation period on an exposure draft. Submissions were received from individuals, consumers, academics, public health organisations, state and territory health departments, Commonwealth agencies, tobacco manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, packagers and retailers. Feedback from all of that consultation has influenced the final drafting of the bill. For example, the commencement date was changed from 1 July next year to July 2025 following feedback from industry stakeholders, and a proposed requirement to report on research and development activities was removed. Most importantly, these reforms are supported by robust evidence of the impact of the measures on smoking. The long-term objectives are to reduce uptake, with a particular focus on youth and young adults, because if you reduce uptake in that group, you stop the next generation from becoming lifelong smokers. These measures are designed to make sure we get more people who do smoke to quit. The measures will further strengthen gains made by Australia's world-leading reforms, such as plain packaging.

That proud history when it comes to tobacco control largely sits at Labor's door. We led the world after Nicola Roxon introduced plain packaging, and since then 26 countries have followed her example. They recognise that it's a policy that saves lives and will continue to save lives into the future. I recall fierce opposition to the plain-packaging laws when they were introduced. Then opposition leader Tony Abbott—himself a former health minister in the Howard government—attacked these reforms at the time by saying they weren't health policy but tax policy. In 2009, the same year the coalition raked in nearly $300,000 in donations from big tobacco, the shadow health minister, the Hon. Peter Dutton, said these world-leading, life-saving reports were, in his words, 'A bridge too far.' I kid you not—the current Leader of the Opposition said that tobacco reform was a bridge too far. He just said 'no' and has obviously been saying it ever since. Given that attitude, it's not surprising that when they were in government the coalition did near nothing in their 10-year term to reduce smoking and vaping rates across the country, amazingly, for the first time in 50 years.

I remind you again that the Nationals remain the only major political party to accept donations from big tobacco, accepting at least $276,000 between 2015-16 and 2021-22 from Philip Morris Pty Ltd, shamefully. Australia was once a world leader on tobacco control, and now we are a bit of a laggard. It is no coincidence, as industry dictated policy under the former coalition government.

Unlike under those opposite, the 11 measures in the government's Reignite the Fight Against Tobacco Addiction reforms will put us back into a world-leading position, alongside fellow OECD nations, like New Zealand and Canada, and I think the UK is also making moves—I saw that announcement recently.

The Albanese government is determined to do all that it can to tackle the harm caused by smoking. We want to make sure that in the future people don't take up smoking in the first place. I call on all those opposite to put out their opposition to this legislation, to stub it out and to support this important reform. I commend the legislation to the House.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 and the measures it introduces to streamline, tighten and catch up with regulations related to tobacco products, but there are some key issues that need amendments in this bill. It still allows political donations from vaping companies, and I note the comments from the previous government representative and other members calling out donations to the National Party from big tobacco. Yet this very bill, on their watch, allows for an exception for vaping companies to donate to political parties. So, the hypocrisy is there, but I will be moving an amendment to that effect and I urge those members to talk to their minister, to accept those amendments.

Vaping use almost tripled amongst Australian adults between 2013 and 2019. For the first time, cigarette smoking amongst teenagers has also increased. Rates of teen vaping have been rising rapidly in Australia. According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the prevalence of vaping amongst young Australians has been steadily increasing. As a parent of young adults, I find it horrendous to see how pervasive this has become. A survey conducted in 2021 found that 17.6 per cent of 14-to 17-year-olds had tried vaping and 3.4 per cent were using vaping products regularly. This is an incredibly concerning trend as it represents a significant rise, from under one per cent in just 2018.

It's no wonder why. There is an insidious marketing strategy by vape companies being deployed across Australia and the world to lure children into lolly shops that, in reality, are fronts for selling vapes. It's unfolding before our eyes. In my own electorate of Warringah, these insidious illegal vape shops are popping up regularly. Just as insidious is the appearance of the vapes that they sell, looking and tasting like the lollies they sit alongside. I continually hear from parents, seriously concerned about the prevalence of vapes in schools and vape shops located close to schools. Local media in the electorate of Warringah and our surrounding region, like the Manly Observer and the Northern Beaches Advocate, continue to diligently cover this issue, but the regulation is far behind. How can we have vape shops allowed close to schools, marketing directly to children?

The federal health minister announced in May that legislation would be introduced to stop both nicotine and non-nicotine vape importation. We are nearing the end of the year with no such legislation before this parliament in relation to that import.

The law and the reality are completely out of step. Since October 2021, nicotine vapes are available only by prescription through pharmacists. This has not stopped their sale through vape shops and online, often to children. States are taking action, but the federal government must also. I acknowledge and welcome the $4.3 million in the budget for police raids on illegal vape shops in the New South Wales state budget, but I'm calling on the government here to immediately introduce legislation to stop the importation of illegal vapes, ban disposable vapes and do more to ensure that only those with a prescription are accessing nicotine vapes. Additionally, I call on the government to ban such shops, vape shops, from within 300 metres of our schools. It is just incredible that that is allowed.

We must stop the trend of vaping, which has almost tripled among Australian adults between 2013 and 2019, to avoid its unintended consequences and likely another health crisis. Although vaping has been marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, there is growing evidence that it poses significant risks, especially to children and adolescents. A single vape exposes the user to over 100 chemicals and heavy metals, and Queensland researchers are even investigating radioactive polonium-210.

This bill is welcome, but it merely skirts around the edges. Its objectives are consistent with community expectation, but its substance fails to address the biggest issue facing this country in achieving those objectives. I appreciate that this bill is addressing some of the strategic objectives of the National Tobacco Strategy. It is updating laws that are approaching sunsetting, and it does form part of a broad strategy to reduce smoking prevalence to below 20 per cent by 2025 and below five per cent or less by 2030. I welcome the definition of 'selling a vape' to include having a vape on the premises, whether or not it is accessible or visible to a consumer. This ensures that prosecution of stores that are masquerading as lolly shops with vapes hidden out the back or behind the counter will not have the potential defence of the product not being for sale.

I welcome the broadening of packaging requirements to include not only warnings but also information on how people can quit. This measure has been successful in Canada. We know that plain packaging and graphic health warnings on nicotine products work. A 25 per cent decrease in smoking between the years of 2012 and 2015 is attributed to this and has been described by academics as a global success story. But we need to make sure we're doing as much as we possibly can in relation to the scourge of vaping now.

I also welcome the measures to end the use of terms and additives that imply products are healthier, whether that be 'light', 'mild' or my personal pet peeve, 'alpine'. All flavours should be banned. We know of greenwashing, but this is healthwashing—marketing trickery, trying to influence and induce people to think that somehow this product is not as bad as it seems.

I support the restrictions on sponsorship, but the government should not be excluded. I intend to move amendments to further restrict the advertising and online sale of vapes and ensure the government is also prevented from accepting donations from the industries. It is quite incredible that these loopholes are being allowed to remain, and they should be closed. It's incredible to listen to the speeches from government members accusing the National Party of accepting political donations from the tobacco industry. That loophole should be closed, but so should this one. I wonder how aware Labor members are that this legislation they purport to endorse allows for an exception of political donations from vaping companies. Is this really the standard you stand by? Are these the values the parents in your communities expect of you?

I'm supportive of this legislation, but I will put forward amendments with the intent of making this legislation even better and make a statement on what I know are the expectations of parents around the country. We need to delete a number of clauses from this legislation. The practical effect of this will be to further restrict physical advertising, online advertising and advertising on aeroplanes for vapes and online sale of vapes. The amendment in relation to the clause on political donations and electoral expenses will ensure that our political system is not influenced by donations from the vaping lobby.

It's quite extraordinary that that loophole is being allowed to remain. It's perplexing. When I convey that to parents around my electorate, they are simply dumbfounded. I urge members of the government to talk to their Minister for Health and Aged Care. Go back and ask just why this loophole is being allowed to remain in this legislation. It's time to genuinely close loopholes. If we are focused on the health of our children and the next generation and we want to stop the scourge of vaping influencing them, getting them hooked on nicotine, then let's genuinely do it, but let's make sure we don't have politicians in this place also hooked on nicotine.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia. It is the leading cause of cancer in Australia and accounts for 44 per cent of the burden of cancer. Smoking not only causes lung cancer; it causes many other types of cancer, as well as heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking increases the risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.

Second-hand smoke exposure contributes to approximately 41,000 deaths among non-smoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year. Second-hand smoke causes throat and lung cancer and coronary disease in adults. Children who have been exposed to second-hand smoke are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, severe asthma, respiratory symptoms and slowed lung growth.

Smoking in pregnancy reduces the oxygen and nutrient supply to the growing foetus due to carbon monoxide and nicotine in tobacco smoke. It leads to slower growth and development and an increased risk of birth defects, such as cleft lip and cleft palate. Smoking is indisputably a bad thing from a public health perspective and in terms of the health of our nation.

The good news, if there can be any good news in this arena, is that daily smoking rates in Australia are around the lowest amongst the OECD countries and there has been a long-term downward trend in tobacco smoking in Australia. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed that, between 1991 and 2019, the proportion of persons aged 14 and over smoking daily more than halved, from 24 per cent to 11 per cent. Nonetheless, tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths and disability in this country.

Labor has a proud history when it comes to tobacco control, and this can be traced to the groundbreaking work by former health minister Nicola Roxon. Former minister Roxon introduced world-leading public health policy for anti-smoking in the form of legislation to introduce plain packaging and graphic health warnings, the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011, and successfully defended the constitutional validity of the government's legislation to control tobacco products in the High Court of Australia. She introduced banning online tobacco promotion, price increases for tobacco products, substantial funding for media campaigns and quit services, a new tackling Indigenous smoking initiative, funding to make nicotine replacement therapy available on the PBS and support for complementary state and territory action. If we have anyone to thank for Australia's reduction in daily smoking rates and related harms, it is former minister Roxon and the Labor government.

This world-leading approach has since been followed by 26 countries, and it is a policy that has saved lives and will continue to save lives. Ten years ago, when former minister Roxon launched this reform, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked. Today, that rate is down to just under 11 per cent. A five per cent drop in smoking rates is equivalent to one million fewer Australians smoking.

While those of us working in the public health sector saw this as a good thing, tackling the cause of so much harm, the tobacco industry met these initiatives with an often savage legal and rhetorical assault. Sadly, those opposite did not support the efforts to reduce smoking harm to Australians and the associated cost to lives and the health system. The then opposition leader, Tony Abbott, himself a former health minister, denigrated these reforms at the time by saying they weren't a health policy but a tax policy. In 2009, the same year that the coalition raked in nearly $300,000 in donations from big tobacco, the shadow health minister, Peter Dutton, said that these world-leading, life-saving reforms were 'a bridge too far'.

The health impacts of tobacco were very well established at the time that these comments were made. There are about 600 ingredients in cigarettes, and they create about 7,000 chemicals when burned, of which we know that some 69 are carcinogens—cancer causing—such as acetone like in nail polish remover, arsenic, the cleaning product ammonia, formaldehyde, more commonly known for use in embalming, and lead. It's pretty clear. The science is well and truly in. There's politics and political pointscoring, and then there's saving lives. I think you have to pick your side.

Now Australian lungs are facing a new scourge: vaping and e-cigarettes. Initially sold as a way to quit smoking, they have turned out to simply be another product of addiction, continuing to do harm to those who use them. Even worse, it's now a gateway to smoking and one that is increasingly being marketed to children and teens in brightly coloured novelty containers and flavours. While it's illegal to purchase e-cigarettes or vapes with nicotine in them without a prescription, vaping with nicotine-free liquids is not illegal and is increasingly popular, particularly amongst young people. A 2021 study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that most e-liquids contain chemicals known to cause respiratory issues and lung damage when inhaled. Most contained ingredients that have been banned by the Australian drug regulator, the TGA. Most liquids contain substances for which health effects of inhalation exposure are still unknown. A colleague has told me of people coming into an emergency department with oil burns inside their lungs from vaping. It's very difficult to treat this type of internal damage to a delicate structure such as the lungs.

The former government was asleep at the wheel when it came to tobacco control. The opposition did near nothing in their 10 years in government to reduce smoking and vaping rates across the country. Let's not forget that the Nationals remain the only major political party to accept donations from big tobacco, accepting at least $276,000 between 2015-16 and 2021-22 from Philip Morris Ltd.

That brings us to this bill. This bill is consistent with Australia's obligations as a party to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty which aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 consolidates the existing Commonwealth tobacco control framework into one act with associated regulations, thereby streamlining the operation of the laws. It modernises and simplifies the existing provisions and introduces new measures to discourage smoking and address the health risks posed by vaping and e-cigarette products. The bill reflects the Australian government's ongoing commitment to improving the health of all Australians by reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and its associated health, social and environmental costs and the inequality it causes. It continues to ensure that Australian laws keep up with novel and emerging products and marketing strategies. The bill modernises, simplifies and streamlines our regulation of tobacco products, keeping up with international best practice.

There has never been a more important time to introduce this bill to parliament, because Australia's current tobacco related measures are split across as many as eight different laws, regulations, instruments and court decisions. For example, the government's legislation prohibiting certain forms of tobacco advertising is now 30 years old. The industry has moved on. This convoluted patchwork of regulations with gaps has meant smokers are falling through those cracks. This bill brings together tobacco measures with 11 new measures into a single, streamlined and effective act to parliament which will reignite the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction.

The bill will complement the National Tobacco Strategy 2023-2030, which aims to achieve a national daily smoking prevalence of less than 10 per cent by 2025 and five per cent or less by 2030 and to reduce the daily smoking rate amongst First Nations people to 27 per cent or less by 2030. Without further action by government, including the new measures proposed in the bill, current tobacco control measures are unlikely to achieve these targets.

Among other things, the bill will provide for updated and improved health warnings on tobacco products to better inform consumers on the effects of tobacco use; improved coverage, enforcement and compliance for tobacco control through updated advertising restrictions, definitions and the introduction of a civil penalties regime; expanded advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to the advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly in young and vulnerable people; restrictions on the use of additives and ingredients that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products; better regulation of product design features that are known to make tobacco products more attractive to consumers, including crush balls and novel filters; restriction on the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm; inclusion of health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit; and mandatory disclosure of tobacco product ingredients, sales volume and pricing data, and advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditure. The bill also provides for future regulation of tobacco product characteristics, including to allow dissuasive measures to be introduced on factory made cigarettes, to help increase knowledge of health harms of smoking and reduce the appeal of smoking.

The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 deals with the consequential and transitional matters arising from the enactment of the bill. Among other things, it provides application, saving and transitional provisions to allow a smooth transition to the new requirements, including a main transitional period of 12 months to allow manufacturers ample time to bring products in line with the new requirements, along with a retailer transition sell-through period of a further three months.

The government has consulted broadly on the proposed reforms and held a six-week public consultation period on an exposure draft of the bill. Submissions were received from individuals, consumers, academics, public health organisations, state and territory health departments, Commonwealth agencies and, of course, tobacco manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, packagers and retailers. Feedback from this consultation has influenced the final drafting of the bill.

These reforms are supported by robust evidence on the impact of the measures on smoking. The long-term objectives are to reduce prevalence by reducing uptake, with a particular focus on youth and young adults. The measures will further strengthen gains made by Australia's world-leading reforms, such as plain packaging. Smoking harm is an eminently preventable cause of death and disease, and this government is prioritising the health and lives of Australians. It is difficult to think of an argument against a health measure that will save lives and save burden of disease as well as saving future health costs in the system.

Australia was once a world leader on tobacco control, and we are now a laggard. It is no coincidence, when industry dictated policy under the former government. Unlike the policy of those opposite, the 11 measures in the government's Reignite the Fight Against Tobacco Addiction reforms will put us back into a world-leading position alongside fellow OECD nations. We're moving forwards. The Albanese government is determined to do all it can to tackle the harms caused by smoking. We want to ensure that in the future people don't take up smoking in the first place. This is the leading preventable cause of death and illness in this country, and we should be doing more about it.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2023, after so many years in which the harms of tobacco smoking have been abundantly clear, it is stunning and unacceptable that tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death in Australia. More than 20,000 Australians die of smoking-related illnesses each year, and, tragically, more than a quarter of a million Australians will die of smoking-related cancers over the next 20 years. These illnesses have a devastating effect on those who suffer them, as well as their families, friends and loved ones. This alone should be enough to prompt change, but, in addition to the lives which are being lost, smoking costs the economy close to $137 billion per year in health and productivity expenses.

It is particularly concerning that these products are targeted at young people. We already know how addictive and harmful smoking is for young people, but the health risks of vaping are not properly understood, and, given the unknown chemical composition of many imported vape products, it's potentially very dangerous.

The targeting of young people is absolutely transparent and unconscionable. The vaping products are promoted on social media with bright colours and sweet flavours to make the products more appealing and more palatable, and it is done to create a new generation of addicts. Worst of all, retail stores with these products are choosing to locate themselves close to schools and close to young people. I was absolutely shocked when a tobacco store recently opened just four doors down from my old high school in Wentworth. Parents and others in the community were obviously desperately concerned that their children would access these products despite it being illegal. If you talk to any high school in I think any electorate of this country you will hear about the struggle to stop young people vaping. It is so prevalent across our high schools, and it's growing.

A recent study found that 14 per cent of Australian high school students, some as young as 12, have used an e-cigarette. That is one in seven of our young people. The use of these products by young people threatens the significant progress Australia has made in reducing smoking related deaths, while smoking rates have been more than halved in the past 30 years. The promotion and sale of addictive products to children is simply unacceptable. It must end. Regulating the sale and advertisement of tobacco and e-cigarette products is an essential and overdue step. I commend the government for listening to the concerns of the community and introducing this legislation. There is no reason that the promotion of e-cigarettes should be any different to the promotion of tobacco products, and this bill will deliver that consistency. The legislation will go some way towards achieving Australia's goal of reducing smoking rates to five per cent of the population by 2030.

However, this legislation is not sufficient in itself. Firstly, this legislation allows for political donations by e-cigarette companies. At a time when we are fighting e-cigarettes in this parliament and across our communities and in our schools, I think it is unconscionable for cigarette companies to be able to make donations to political parties. Secondly, in the conversations I have with the people of Wentworth, they say that while another regulation is fine, their concern is: is it actually going to make a difference on the ground, and is it going to enforced? Strengthening the law is a necessary and important step, but the point is actually to make a difference, and it is pointless if the government actually can't take action regarding those who are already breaking the law.

Again, I've had reports of vaping shops in my electorate, where it has been reported to the health department in New South Wales a number of times that they're illegally selling tobacco vapes, and really nothing happens. They've done this a series of times, and the shops are still open, still trading, and no doubt they're still selling tobacco vapes. The enforcement of these laws is absolutely critical if they are going to make a difference to our country. No child or teen in this country should be able to purchase or use a vape. The fact that they can do—cheaply, easily and conveniently—is a clear demonstration of government failure and a need for urgent action.

I know that some of this is at the state government level, but this is where federal government really needs to take leadership and work across the different levels to implement this. It is what I want to see and it is what the community wants to see, not only from the Commonwealth government but obviously also from the New South Wales state government. The sooner they act the better.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:4 8 to 16:5 0

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Public Health (Tobacco and other Products) Bill 2023. This bill consolidates the existing Commonwealth tobacco control framework into one act with associated regulations, thereby streamlining the operation of the laws. It modernises and simplifies existing provisions and introduces some new measures to discourage smoking. It addresses the health risks posed by vaping and e-cigarette products.

I will begin by addressing the emerging crisis of vaping. You only have to drive around any streets close by a school or a shopping centre to see the prevalent use of vaping and the use of electronic cigarettes. The aerosol that users breathe from e-cigarettes can contain potentially harmful substances, including nicotine, ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs, volatile organic compounds, cancer-causing chemicals and heavy metals, such as nickel, tin and lead.

It's difficult for consumers to know what e-cigarette products contain. Some e-cigarettes marketed as containing zero nicotine have been found to contain nicotine. In fact, most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive. It's toxic and harmful. It's harmful to adolescents and young adults. Young adult brain development continues into people's early and mid 20s. It's a health danger to pregnant women and to developing babies. Electronic cigarettes are at least as addictive as normal cigarettes. What's worse is that many e-cigarette users get more nicotine than they would otherwise get in normal cigarettes. Users can buy extra-strength cartridges, which have a higher concentration of nicotine, or increase the e-cigarette's voltage to get a greater hit of the substance.

Worldwide, there have been thousands of injuries and more than 100 deaths associated with vaping, with more than 60 in the United States alone. It was reported in the Medical Journal of Australia that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have described a new disease: e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury. Patients with this injury typically present with both respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. These respiratory symptoms include coughs and fever and the gastrointestinal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Usually there's no history of respiratory disease until the consumption of these e-cigarettes. Diagnosis can be challenging and the condition can mimic pneumonia. Symptoms can sometimes precede other respiratory symptoms as well. The associated respiratory failure can be severe and require invasive ventilation and intensive care products.

Research done by, for example, the Australian Institute of Family Studies had the following findings. The rates of vaping amongst adolescents is rising in Australia and internationally. Anecdotally, you can see that. Vaping is associated with mental health challenges amongst adolescents, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, perceived stress and, indeed, suicidal related behaviours. Risks include getting onto other products as well.

Families, health professionals and educators need more education. Health professionals must work to manage the risk of vaping by routinely assessing young clients and families for vaping.

This is a major problem. The Australian Institute of Family Studies has found that 4.5 per cent of participants aged 12 to 17 are current e-cigarette users and 14 per cent have tried e-cigarettes. In comparison, 18 per cent had previously tried smoking conventional cigarettes and five per cent were current smokers. Research noted a survey of 950 children aged 13-19 in your home state of South Australia, Deputy Speaker Sharkie. Two-thirds of participants had tried vaping and, of those, 25 per cent had vaped on most days. It's a major problem across the country.

We need to look at that and associated trends, and see the associations with other illnesses and injuries. High perceived stress levels can be found to contribute to increased levels of vaping, so the causes of vaping should be looked at as well. This is a major problem. What we really need to do is look at the emerging research and tackle the issues. This is a big problem. It requires national leadership and it's not just about leaving it to local government, who might regulate where vaping or e-cigarette consumption can take place—in a mall, or outside a school or something. It's not just up to state governments—it's up to federal government to show leadership in this space. It needs urgent reform.

When Medicare was started in the 1980s, the biggest public health challenge was tobacco—40 per cent of men and 30 per cent of women regularly smoked. Today it's about 10 per cent in most of the Australian community. We intend to build on the legacy of Nicola Roxon, the former health minister who introduced world-leading plain packaging. We intend to build on that legacy and implement the next generation of tobacco control reforms. Unfortunately, the gains to be made into tobacco control could be undone by vaping, and that's why we have to tackle that issue straight and head-on.

Initially, governments around the world were told that vaping was a therapeutic product—a bit like doctors used to tell people to have a cigarette to calm their nerves. You remember those ads we used to see around the place, Deputy Speaker Sharkie, that it was cool and mild and the menthol was there. Vaping really has adopted the same methodology in terms of advertising. It has become a big loophole in the history of Australian public policy. A recent study by the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney found that 26 per cent of people aged 14 to 17 had vaped. A product targeted to kids, sold next to lollies and chocolate bars, vaping has become the No. 1 behavioural issues in high schools. It has become widespread in primary schools as well. Just as they did with smoking, big tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in a shiny package and added sweet flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts. We have to take steps. We have to look at things which were supposedly pharmaceutical products, and that appear that way. No more bubblegum flavours or colourful packaging. Pharmaceutical-style packaging needs to happen, with plain flavours. The import of vapes for sale in retail settings must end. It really must. We can't stand by and allow vaping to create another generation of nicotine addicts.

The previous government wasted time in tackling this, and nothing constructive was done in terms of vaping control. The coalition government did next to nothing on tobacco control. The Albanese government is taking the next critical step, and this legislation is part of this. It's consistent with our form in the policy space—we've brought forward some new control laws. We are updating and improving the graphics warnings on tobacco packaging, including extending warnings to individual cigarettes. We are standardising the size of tobacco packets and products and will control the use of additives in tobacco products like menthols. We will standardise and design the look of filters and limit the use of appealing names that imply reduced harm. We will require health promotion inserts in packs and pouches, and we will improve transparency of tobacco sale volumes and product control. We will improve transparency of advertising and promotional activities, including capturing vapes—as I outlined earlier in the speech—in advertising restrictions. It's absolutely critical we do this.

Tobacco kills more than 50 Australians every day. That's about 20,000 people each and every year. It's a leading cause of preventable death and disability in this country, and this government's aim is to reduce the national smoking rate to less than 10 per cent by 2025 and less than five per cent by 2030. For First Nations people, we want that below 27 per cent by 2030. These new laws will take effect from 1 April 2024. The industry will be given a year to comply, with retailers given a further three months.

Australia has been a leader in public health measures to discourage smoking, but after a decade of inaction the gains of Labor's world-leading plain-packaging laws have been totally squandered. Since the inception of plain packaging, big tobacco have become increasingly creative and cunning in their marketing tactics. The legislation before the chamber will allow Australia to reclaim its position as a world leader in tobacco control.

The opposition leader once described Labor's life-saving reforms as 'a bridge too far'. Imagine saying that. He really said that, 'a bridge too far'. That's what the Leader of the Opposition said about Labor's life-saving reforms. The coalition has been on the wrong side of history before on tobacco control, but these reforms should be bipartisan.

The government is determined to support Australians tackling nicotine dependency. These reforms will cease any form of incentive. They complement the government's commitment to stamping out vaping. The bill, in general, is about this: it consolidates the framework into one act, thereby streamlining the operational laws. It modernises and simplifies existing provisions and introduces some new measures to discourage smoking and address the health risk posed by vaping and e-cigarette products. And it does reflect the government's commitment. The commitment is consistent with Australia's obligations as a party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. It continues to ensure Australia's laws keep up with novel and emerging products and marketing strategies.

The bill modernises, simplifies and streamlines our regulation of tobacco products. There has never been a more important time to introduce this bill to the parliament, because Australia's current tobacco related measures are split across several different laws, regulations and court decisions. This convoluted patchwork of regulations with gaps has meant smokers are falling through the cracks and big tobacco is making use of those loopholes.

This bill brings together tobacco measures along with 11 new measures, making a single, streamlined and effective act of parliament that will reignite the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction. The bill will complement the 2023-2030 National Tobacco Strategy, where it aims to achieve a national daily smoking prevalence of less than 10 per cent—absolutely crucial.

Without further action by the government, including new measures proposed in this bill, current tobacco control measures are unlikely to achieve the targets, and that was happening under the previous government. Things were not going well. First Nations people's use of tobacco products was increasing and vaping is out of control. This bill includes measures for future regulation in tobacco product characteristics, including to allow dissuasive measures to be introduced on factory made cigarettes to help increase knowledge of health harms of smoking and reduce the appeal of smoking.

The government has consulted broadly on the proposed reforms and held a six-week public consultation period on the exposure draft of the bill. Submissions were received from individuals, consumers, academics, public health organisations, state and territory health departments, Commonwealth agencies, tobacco manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, packagers and retailers. These reforms are supported by robust evidence of the impact of measures on smoking. The long-term objectives are to reduce prevalence by reducing uptake, with particular focus on young people.

We have a proud history on this side of the chamber of taking action on tobacco control. We know this because 26 countries followed our lead when Nicola Roxon was the health minister. Ten years ago, when she introduced plain-packaging reform, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked. We've got it down much lower today. Australia was once a leader in tobacco control, but now we're a laggard. We were apathetic, inert and lethargic under the previous government. It is no coincidence that industries dictated policy under the former government. Eleven measures in the Australian government's reignition of tobacco reforms will put us back into a world-leading position alongside fellow OECD nations.

The Albanese Labor government is determined to do all we can to tackle smoking—tackle the causes and tackle the effects. We need to tackle the harm caused by smoking as well. We want to ensure that in future people don't take up smoking in the first place. It is not cool to smoke. It is not cool to vape. It doesn't make you friends. And it's important that you think about the consequences of picking up that vaping instrument, picking up that cigarette, picking up that cigar, picking up that pipe. When you undertake that, that is a lifetime addiction and, as a consequence, it's a cost to you, your health, your family and your family's financial future. I commend the bill to the House.

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

I apologise in advance if I get rather emotional in reading this speech. I have seen family members die early due to smoking. My young grandson, who is a type 1 diabetic, has been approached by people trying to introduce him to vaping. I rise to speak on the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 and Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023. In doing so, I wish to briefly recap the minister's second reading speech from when he introduced the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 on 13 September.

As the minister stated, the bill builds on the pioneering tobacco control reforms introduced by past Labor governments, including Australia's world-leading tobacco plain-packaging reforms. This was indeed a bold policy at the time, and we know now that 26 countries have followed the example that we set. The policy has saved lives and will continue to do so not just here but worldwide. It is pleasing to note that the rate of smoking daily has dropped from 16 per cent to 11 per cent of Australians, which is the equivalent of one million fewer Australians smoking. However, it is staggering to learn that tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians, estimated to kill more than 20,000 Australians each year.

The reforms in this bill will support reductions in rates of smoking and tobacco use and, in the long term, smoking-related illness and the burden on the healthcare system. The health impacts are enormous. No family wishes to see a loved one suffer from lung cancer or other diseases caused by smoking. We are advised that the most important thing you can do to prevent smoking-related cancer is to not smoke tobacco products, or to quit if you do, and avoid second-hand smoke.

Quitting smoking lowers the risk for 12 types of cancer: cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity, oesophagus, pancreas, bladder, stomach, colon and rectum, liver, cervix and kidney; and acute myeloid leukaemia. In 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services's report Smoking cessation: a report of the Surgeon General advised the following. Within five to 10 years of quitting smoking, your chance of getting cancer of the mouth, throat or voicebox drops by half. Within 10 years of quitting, your chance of getting cancer of the bladder, oesophagus or kidney decreases. Within one to 15 years after you quit smoking, your risk of lung cancer drops by half. Within 20 years after you quit smoking, your risk of getting cancer of the mouth, throat, voicebox or pancreas drops to close to that of someone who does not smoke, and your risk of cervical cancer drops by about half.

Most people know that smoking causes cancer and other major health problems. Smoking while you are pregnant can cause serious problems, too. Babies can be born too early, have a birth defect or die from sudden infant death syndrome. Smoking can also cause fertility problems. I understand that women who smoke can have more trouble getting pregnant than women who do not smoke. In men, smoking can damage sperm and contribute to impotence. Smoking can also affect your eyes by causing changes that can lead to vision loss. If you smoke, you are twice as likely to develop macular degeneration than a person who does not smoke, and you are two to three times more likely to develop cataracts than people who do not smoke.

Some people try to cut back on smoking cigarettes or work towards quitting smoking completely by using e-cigarettes or other tobacco products in addition to regular cigarettes. This dual use is counterproductive and is certainly not an effective way to safeguard your health.

There are many compelling reasons to take steps to close looming gaps and close loopholes found by the tobacco industry to promote its products and to increase their appeal, particularly to young people. As the minister stated, Australian laws need to keep up with the changing tobacco and technological environment to address challenges such as novel and emerging products and marketing strategies which are very creative. The minister further advised that the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 consolidates the existing Commonwealth tobacco control framework into one act with associated regulations, thereby streamlining the operation of the laws, modernising and simplifying the existing provisions and introducing measures to discourage smoking and prevent the promotion of vaping and e-cigarettes.

It is also important to acknowledge the public feedback received through the consultation period that informed changes made to the bill that included: amending the definition of e-cigarettes to ensure that vaping devices which resemble toys, food, drinks, cartoon characters, animals, musical instruments et cetera are captured by the advertising and sponsorship prohibition; changing the commencement date of the new mandatory reporting period from 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025 in response to feedback from the tobacco industry stakeholders regarding the time required to establish new administrative systems; amending the definition of 'prohibited term' to ensure that brand and variant names cannot include terms such as 'cool', 'extra' or 'fresh', which all imply a positive quality; updating advertising prohibition exceptions for journalism to prevent advertorials where the person that publishes the material receives a benefit of any kind for publishing the material from a manufacturer, importer, distributor or retailer of tobacco products; and removing the requirement to report on research and development activities in response to feedback provided by tobacco industry stakeholders regarding undue burden on reporting entities.

It is imperative we work to help improve the health of all Australians by reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and its associated health, social and environmental costs and the inequalities that it clearly causes. Not only is there a cost to health but many vulnerable people in our communities who use tobacco products struggle to give up and, at today's cost, that is proving to have a significant impact on their daily financial lives.

The reforms are supported by robust evidence of the impact of the measures on smoking. The long-term objective is to reduce prevalence by reducing uptake, with a particular focus on youth and young adults. The measures will further strengthen gains made by Australia's world-leading reforms, such as plain packaging. Sadly, the opposition does not have a good record when it comes to tobacco reform. During their 10-year term, they did nothing to reduce smoking and vaping rates across the country. The Albanese government is determined to do all it can to tackle the harms caused by smoking. We want to ensure that, in future, people do not take up smoking in the first place.

The bill provides for a range of measures, including, but not limited to: expanding advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to the advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes; the continuation of plain packaging; and restrictions on the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm. New regulations will include providing updated and improved health warnings and restrictions on the use of ingredients or additives that enhance attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products and, importantly, health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit.

I am proud of the government for taking up this fight to improve the health of all Australians, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities, who do, indeed, endure the most of tobacco company profits.

The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 contains consequential amendments and transitional provisions which are required to give effect to the consolidation of the tobacco control legislation in the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023. The purpose of this legislation is to modernise and streamline the existing Commonwealth regulatory framework, which includes eight different tobacco related acts, legislative instruments and court decisions administered across the health and Treasury portfolios, and to strengthen Australian's regulation of tobacco products in line with international best practice.

Regulations proposed to be made in the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill are intended to ensure a 12-month transition to the new regime. They include provisions to allow time for any required tobacco product production changes, along with a retailer transition period of a further three months to allow for the sell-through of stock. The rationale for the new measures is to reduce tobacco palatability by restricting additives; to reduce tobacco product attractiveness by regulating product design features that create novelty value; and to encourage and empower people who seek to quit by requiring health promotion inserts. The measures are also to update and improve health warnings; place further restrictions on advertising and promotion; further standardise the size of tobacco packets and products, cigarette pack cartons and stick size, roll-your-own tobacco pipe size, and little cigar and cigarillo pack size; require mandatory disclosure of tobacco industry volumes and pricing, product ingredients and tobacco industry advertising, and promotion and sponsorship activities and expenditure; require dissuasive measures on tobacco products; and prohibit the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm.

Clause 2 of the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill provides for the commencement of the provisions in the bill. Clause 3 states:

Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1 deals with repeals and consequential amendments. Part 1, item 1, repeals the whole of the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992, and item 2 repeals the whole of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011. Part 2 deals with consequential amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, the Criminal Code Act 1995, the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Trade Marks Act 1995. In schedule 2, application, saving and transitional provisions are outlined.

In conclusion, I acknowledge there are many pieces of legislation governing tobacco control within Australia, which has created ambiguity regarding compliance, duplication of reporting, and enforcement. It is time to consolidate existing legislation to reduce red tape and the possible duplication of portfolio responsibility for policy and enforcement. I am supportive of the government's efforts to modernise, simplify and consolidate tobacco control.

I had to struggle through this speech because it's very dear to my heart. I support this because I nursed my mum and watched her die of lung cancer long before her time due to smoking—something that she did when she was a teenager and something that she thought it was cool to do because everybody was doing it and it looked cool. It's not. It ended her life early. I've sat in IVF clinics. I've seen parents and parents-to-be there—and my young grandson as well, a type 1 diabetic—with that temptation in front of them, which is so terribly wrong. Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable death and disease, and is a key health risk factor in Australia. I wish to provide the best conceivable way forward for my constituents in Pearce and all around Australia to live happy, healthy lives. Therefore, I commend the bill to the House.

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

The scourge of smoking is well known to me, having dealt with its effect as a clinician each and every day. So addictive is nicotine that patients missing legs still sit outside hospital entrances all over the country in their wheelchairs to satisfy their cravings. We previously called these 'cancer sticks', but, given the litany of health problems they are associated with, a more apt term is probably 'premature death or disability sticks'. Tobacco and nicotine rob people and patients of their lives and their independence, and there is perhaps nothing more traumatic and anxiety-inducing to Australians than losing their autonomy.

We have a challenging problem in Australia: smoking rates that have been stuck at around 10 or 11 per cent. But amidst this largely difficult problem we have some bright spots in my own electorate of Higgins. We have a Better Health Network clinic in Prahran. It offers a range of services to the local community, including occupational therapy, physio, diabetes, mental health care and smoking cessation. I've seen dedicated healthcare workers buzzing around, looking after vulnerable patients, many of whom come from the social-housing towers opposite. These staff are constantly working. They are attending to their patients with a smile on their faces and warmth in their hearts. This clinic is also the only bulk-billing clinic in my electorate. It's the only one. The doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in this clinic are an asset to our community, and I commend them for providing this essential service in keeping people well and away from that hospital up the road that I used to work in. So impressed was I at the quality of the work and their dedication that I brought the Prime Minister to see them and to meet them around the time when we announced a tripling of our bulk-billing incentive. The clinic were overjoyed because it now meant that they could recruit more GPs, and I sincerely hope that that is what comes to pass, provided more medical students go into general practice, as they should.

Although only 10 per cent of Australians smoke, smoking accounts for nearly nine per cent of the disease burden in Australia and is the leading cause of preventable death. Like everything else, its prevalence follows a socioeconomic gradient. In 2019 Australians in the most disadvantaged areas were 3.6 times more likely than those in the most advantaged areas to smoke daily. Among First Nations people, smoking prevalence is sky-high, being 41 per cent in over 15-year-olds and rising to a whopping 58 per cent in very remote areas. Coupled with an epidemic of diabetes, smoking is a driver of premature death in Indigenous Australians and accounts for 12 per cent of their total disease burden. Smoking is the risk factor most responsible for the gap in disease burdens between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This is a public health emergency, especially for First Nations people, who die eight to nine years ahead of everyone else.

Thanks to the courageous leadership of Labor leaders and past governments, smoking prevalence has declined over time, with 49 per cent of the population never taking up smoking in 1991 and 63 per cent currently. That's a significant drop. Today we continue the Labor legacy of spearheading life-changing world-first tobacco control reform. Embodying the same courage and conviction as Nicola Roxon and the Gillard government 12 years ago, we are continuing to take the fight right up to big tobacco.

In the years after plain packaging was implemented, there was a 25 per cent decline in smoking prevalence in Australia that was attributable to the legislation. Three years after plain packaging hit the shelves, an estimated 100,000 fewer Australians smoked. When Nicola Roxon launched the reform, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked. Today that number is 11 per cent. A five per cent drop in smoking rates is equivalent to one million fewer Australians smoking. This was noticed by the world. They sat up and paid attention. After we passed these world-first laws, other countries followed. Over 20 jurisdictions have now implemented plain-packaging legislation.

However, there has been a decade of inertia and inaction since. The health benefits of this reform were squandered under the Liberals. This was foreshadowed when the then health minister, Peter Dutton, in 2009 decried that these world-leading reforms were 'a bridge too far', while the coalition at the time raked in nearly $300,000 in donations from big tobacco. While the Liberals were asleep at the wheel, e-cigarette use took off. As a result, Australia is no longer the innovative and bold global leader on tobacco control. We have lost that crown. While new markets and products have emerged, our laws have lagged.

Young people are disproportionately affected by new products, with 19 per cent of nonsmokers in 2019 reporting having tried e-cigarettes, a substantial increase from 14 per cent in 2016. Almost two in five current smokers aged 14 years and above in 2019 had tried e-cigarettes, with the most common reason being curiosity. A meta-analysis—meaning a big review—in 2021, however, found that never-smokers who used e-cigarettes had about three times the odds of starting smoking compared to non-e-cigarette users. In other words, vapes are a gateway to smoking.

It is clear that our policies require an overhaul to reflect the new challenges we face from new markets and products. Wily marketing new loopholes must be closed. This suite of reforms address a range of issues. It consolidates the existing tobacco control frameworks, spread across as many as eight different laws into one act, thereby streamlining the operation of these laws—it just makes it easier to use them. It updates tobacco advertising which has not been reviewed for 30 years, and it address of the burgeoning use of e-cigarettes and vaping products.

The bill will support the targets in the National Tobacco Strategy 2023- 2030—yes, we do have one—which aims to achieve a national daily smoking prevalence of less than 10 per cent in 2025 and less than five per cent by 2030. Without these reforms, we are unlikely to achieve those targets. Most importantly, the bills new measures invest power in the government to remain responsive to new approaches adopted by the tobacco industry, which tends to outmanoeuvre government whenever regulation is imposed.

The bill will provide for the following: improved health warnings on tobacco products to better inform consumers on the effects of tobacco use; updated advertising restrictions and definitions, and the introduction of civil penalties regime; expanded advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to advertising and the promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly in young and vulnerable people; restrictions on the use of additives like menthol and ingredients that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products; better regulation of product design features that are known to make tobacco products more attractive to consumers, including crush balls and novel filters; restrictions on the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm when the opposite is true; the inclusion of health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit; and the mandatory disclosure of tobacco product ingredients, sales volume and pricing data, and advertising promotion and sponsorship expenditure. This is a good thing. Let's shine some light on where the money is going.

The overarching objective is to reduce the prevalence of smoking by reducing uptake, with a particular focus on young people—on children. When it comes to smoking-related harm, prevention really is better than the cure. These reforms will help restore our edge in tobacco control with our children and adults—young and older, Indigenous and non-Indigenous—the beneficiaries. I commend this bill to the House.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to support the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill today. As the Minister for Health has stated, this bill builds on the pioneering tobacco control reforms introduced by past Labor governments, which include Australia's world-leading tobacco plain-packaging reforms. We know that the tobacco plain packaging was a courageous policy, and it was achieved in the face of often savage and rhetorical assault. It was imaginative policy. It was world-leading, and we know that because since the time it was introduced by a Labor government, 26 countries have followed Australia's example. This policy has saved lives and will continue to save lives not just here in Australia but also around the world.

It's important to remember that when plain-packaging legislation was introduced, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked each day. Today, that rate is down to just 11 per cent, which is the equivalent of a million fewer Australians smoking—a million fewer Australians exposing themselves to the harms and diseases that come from cigarette smoking. We know the health impacts of this change are far-reaching, and it has meant that tens of thousands of families will now never have to struggle through the tragedy of seeing a loved one suffer and die young, or contract the vast range of diseases caused by smoking that become chronic.

Unfortunately, tobacco use does remain the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians. It is estimated to kill more than 20,000 Australians each year, and it also happens to be the risk factor that is the single greatest contribution to the health gap between First Nations Australians and others. As the minister for health has already stated in this debate, while Australia's plain-packaging measures have made it harder for the tobacco industry to promote it's product, big tobacco has unfortunately found new loopholes to promote its product and to increase its appeal to new consumers. That appeal has tended to be for young people with respect to packaging and brand design features. Once again, it falls to a Labor government to close the loopholes that undermine our tobacco control measures and to shield Australians against the tricks and tactics of the tobacco industry.

The tobacco regulations that were put in place by the Labor government in 2011 sunset on 1 April 2024. As such, the current suite of regulations for plain packaging and tobacco advertising will lapse unless we act now. Australia's Commonwealth Tobacco Control Framework, including the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act, the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act and regulations have been the subject of a wide-ranging review. This involved a comprehensive analysis of options to modernise the existing legislative framework for tobacco control to ensure that it remained fit for purpose. It also addresses current gaps and limitations that exist and assists with tackling future challenges in tobacco control.

This bill reflects the Australian government's ongoing commitment to improving the health of all Australians by reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and its associated health, social and environmental costs, and the inequalities it causes. This bill also supports the National Tobacco Strategy 2023-2030, which commits to reducing daily smoking prevalence to below 10 per cent by 2025 and to five per cent or less by 2030. This bill also prioritises, and the plan prioritises, tackling smoking in First Nations communities to reduce smoking rates amongst First Nations people to 27 per cent or less by 2030. This commitment is consistent with Australia's obligations as a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This international treaty aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. Importantly, it will ensure Australian laws keep up with emerging products and marketing strategies.

This bill modernises, simplifies and streamlines our regulation of tobacco products, keeping up with international best practice. And it was feedback from two broad consultations, undertaken in 2019 by the former government, that established that there is a need for ongoing regulation to achieve the objectives that we've set out in respect of tobacco control. To this end, on 30 November last year our government announced a suite of reforms to bring together current legislation and to introduce new measures to reduce tobacco prevalence and to have a particular focus on youth and young adults.

There has never been a more crucial time to introduce this bill. Unfortunately Australia's current tobacco related measures are split across as many as eight different laws, regulations, instruments and court decisions. For example, we know that legislation prohibiting certain forms of tobacco advertising is now 30 years old. And what's happened as a result of this patchwork of regulations has been that gaps exist. This has meant that smokers are falling through these cracks and tobacco companies are taking advantage of those cracks.

This bill brings together tobacco measures along with 11 new measures into a single streamlined and effective act of parliament which will allow us, as a government, to continue the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction. In practical terms, this means that this bill provides for updated and improved health warnings and tobacco products to better inform consumers of the effect of tobacco use. It provides improved coverage, enforcement and compliance for tobacco control through updated advertising restrictions, definitions and the introduction of a civil penalties regime.

The bill expands advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to the advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly those that are targeted at young and vulnerable people. It provides restrictions on the use of additives and ingredients that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products. It provides better regulation of product design features that are known to make tobacco products more attractive to consumers. And it restricts the use of brand invariant names that falsely imply reduced harm and ensures there is a provision for the inclusion of health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit. It also enforces the mandatory disclosure of tobacco product ingredients, which is really important, and the sales, volume and pricing data in advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditure.

The Labor government has consulted extensively on these proposed reforms, including the provision of a six-week public consultation period on an exposure draft of this bill. Submissions were received from individuals, consumers, academics, public health organisations, state and territory health departments, Commonwealth agencies, tobacco manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, packagers and retailers. So it was a fairly wide-reaching consultation process.

These reforms represent a renewed focus on improving the public health of Australians by discouraging smoking and the use of tobacco products while also being in lockstep with the vaping measures that the Minister for Health and Aged Care already announced in May. These reforms are supported by robust evidence of the impact of the measures on smoking. The long-term objective is to reduce prevalence by reducing uptake, with a particular focus on young people. As mentioned earlier, these measures will further strengthen gains made by Australia's world-leading reforms, such as plain packaging. The main objective of these reforms is to reduce the daily smoking prevalence. It is to discourage uptake among people who do not smoke. It is also to increase cessation among people who do smoke.

On this side of the House, we have always done what we can to protect the health of Australians. It is only Labor that has ever been able to lay claim to having a proud history when it comes to tobacco control. Unfortunately, as bold and creative as Labor's plain packaging reforms were, they were met with assault and they are now outdated. We have lost a decade of taking action to make sure that there were the necessary improvements to laws to ensure that people who want to stop smoking find it easier to and are encouraged to stop and that we don't see vulnerable people and young people taking up the habit.

Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I have the pleasure of summing up the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 and the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023. This legislation builds on the pioneering tobacco control reforms introduced by past Labor governments, including Australia's world-leading tobacco plain packaging reforms. That was bold policy achieved in the face of some often savage legal and rhetorical assaults. It was imaginative policy and it was world-leading policy. We know that because 26 countries since then have followed Australia's example. It is a policy that has saved lives and will continue to save lives.

When the Hon. Nicola Roxon introduced plain packaging, around 16 per cent of Australians smoked. Today, that rate is down to just under 11 per cent, the equivalent of one million fewer Australians smoking. But the gains of those world-leading reforms have been squandered. We were a world leader in 2011 and we are a laggard today. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians. It is estimated to kill more than 20,000 Australians each year. It is also the risk factor that is the greatest contributor to the health gap between First Nations people and other Australians.

The main bill consolidated the existing Commonwealth tobacco control framework into one act with associated regulations, streamlining the operation of the laws. It modernises and simplifies the existing provisions and it introduces new measures to discourage smoking and prevent the promotion of vaping and e-cigarette products. The bill reflects the Australian government's ongoing commitment to improving the health of all Australians by reducing the prevalence of tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death and disability among Australians, and its associated health, social and environmental costs and the inequality it causes.

This commitment is consistent with Australia's obligations as a party to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the FCTC, the international treaty which aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. Among other things, the bill will provide for updated and improved health warnings on tobacco products to better inform consumers about the effects of tobacco use; expanded advertising prohibitions to reduce the public's exposure to the advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes and other novel and emerging products, particularly in youth and young adults; restrictions on the use of additives that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of tobacco products; better regulation of product design features that are known to make tobacco products more attractive to consumers, including crush balls and novel filters; restrictions on the use of brand and variant names that falsely imply reduced harm; the inclusion of health promotion inserts that encourage and empower people who smoke to quit; the mandatory disclosure of sales volume and pricing data and advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditure; dissuasive measures on factory made cigarettes to help increase knowledge of the health harms of smoking and reduce the appeal of smoking; and improved coverage, enforcement and compliance for tobacco control through updated provisions and the introduction of a civil penalties regime.

I'd like to conclude by saying again that the government is determined to do all we can to tackle the harms caused by smoking. We know that the tobacco industry continues to have deep pockets and powerful friends. This government is up for the fight, because we fight on behalf of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society, who bear the brunt of these tobacco company profits. We're going to bring the same spirit of courage, spirit of action and clarity of thought and, I hope, the same conviction that Nicola Roxon brought to plain packaging reforms 12 years ago. We're going to reaffirm Australia's reputation as a world leader in tobacco control. I sincerely thank members for their contributions to debate on this bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.