Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

recognises that according to the recently released report, Counting the costs of tobacco and the benefits of reducing smoking prevalence in Victoria:

(i)

the total social costs of smoking in Victoria in the 1998-99 financial year were approximately $5.05 billion,

(ii)

of the total Victorian costs, approximately 45 per cent were avoidable,

(iii)

as a result of Victorian smoking, federal smoking-attributable expenditures exceeded smoking attributable revenues by approximately $160 million in the 1998-99 financial year, and

(iv)

under the most conservative method of estimation, the benefits of the reduction in smoking prevalence would be $2 034 million, or $10 291 for each person prevented from smoking by anti-smoking interventions; and

(b)

calls on the Government to increase the proportion of smoking-related revenue that is allocated to anti-smoking interventions.

Question put.