Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not believe that a university imposing a smoking ban on their campus constitutes a restriction of their own-source revenue. This would be a decision in relation to their guilds or unions if they chose not to sell cigarettes, but I am not aware of any university itself that is actually selling cigarettes to generate income or revenue.

In relation to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, I assume and presume the senator refers to section 19(1)(c) of the act, which requires a Commonwealth entity to notify the responsible minister as soon as practicable after the accountable authority makes a significant decision in relation to the entity or any of its subsidiaries. As I outlined earlier, the idea that a university should have to report to the federal government a decision to ban smoking on their campus is not something we believe would have to be notifiable. Nor of course do we think the idea that they should have to report is consistent with good liberal values. (Time expired)