Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

I really appreciated listening to the Senate chamber last night and this morning when it was debating the Tobacco Plain Packaging Amendment Bill 2018. Senator O'Neill contributed. Senator Abetz talked about the importance of decreasing tobacco use and cigarette smoking. There has been such a great bipartisan approach over nearly 40 years across all levels of government in this country. He also spoke in favour of legalising e-cigarettes as an additional method to decrease cigarette smoking. Senator Bushby contributed.

Senator Hume last night regaled us with her quite colourful description of her struggle. I identified with many of the depictions as she walked her way through the late 1980s and beyond in Melbourne. She spoke about different cigarette brands in different moments of her life and the struggle to give up what is a powerful drug. I've also struggled for 20 years to end my relationship with cigarettes. I succeeded about a decade ago. Any measures to decrease tobacco use and smoking are to be welcomed.

I also recall Senator Colbeck's contribution last night about being a Tas AFL footballer, the role of smoking in football clubs back in the day, how he passively ingested a lot of harmful smoke and how occasionally after a big game and a big celebration he'd participate in the odd dart and that wasn't necessarily a positive thing for him to do as an athlete back then.

Senator Hanson-Young just used her contribution to attack the Labor Party in the trench warfare that is the streets of Brunswick, the streets of Northcote and the streets of Darlinghurst.

Senator Bushby interjecting—

And, as Senator Bushby reminds me, it is a sense of the streets of west Hobart. It is guerrilla warfare with leftie against leftie. She spent her entire contribution not on actually decreasing smoking rates. She couldn't care less. Her real opponent and enemy is the Labor Party. She spent her time wanting the Leader of the Opposition exposed. Well, that's not something we on this side want.

Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable and premature death and disability in Australia. We are recognised as a world leader in tobacco control. We were the first country to introduce tobacco plain packaging. The plain packaging measure remains an important element of our tobacco control measures. The government is committed to reduce the number of people taking up smoking and to assist those already smoking to quit. While progress has been made, 12.8 per cent of Australians aged 14 years or older still smoke daily, and every year smoking kills an estimated 19,000 Australians and costs our community $31.5 billion.

One of the additional measures that I'd just like to briefly mention is part of our National Tobacco Campaign. Part of that 12.8 per cent of Australians is, significantly, Indigenous Australians, who are over-represented in that particular cohort. That's why, as a federal government, we've prioritised phase 4 of the National Tobacco Campaign to Indigenous communities around the 'Don't make smokes your story' campaign, which was a privilege for me to be able to launch in Alice Springs earlier this year as part of the AFL's reconciliation round.

The campaign aims to empower Indigenous Australians to quit smoking and highlights the support services available, including the Quitline, the My QuitBuddy and Quit for You Quit for Two mobile applications and the Quit Now website. Three consecutive phases of the campaign have been undertaken from 2016 focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers and recent quitters aged 18 to 40, because it's not just the first time you give up; you often have to keep trying and trying again, so having those strategies in place in the weeks following for people who quit smoking is incredibly important. The Quit for You Quit for Two campaign is targeted at pregnant women and their partners and complemented the campaign.

The latest phase of the campaign was launched on 27 May 2018 across television, print, radio, digital and out-of-home formats. Evaluation reports for phases 1 and 2 are available now at the Quit Now website, and phase 3 results will be made available over coming months.

Under the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011, plain-packaging compliance and enforcement activities are undertaken by authorised officers. Authorised officers must be persons appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act 1999 or a member or special member of the Australian Federal Police. A person is appointed as an authorised officer in writing by the Secretary of the Department of Health, who must be satisfied that the person has suitable qualifications, training or experience.

The bill proposes to expand the range of persons who can be appointed as authorised officers for the purpose of undertaking compliance and enforcement activities. Right now, states have laws around what can be sold where, but I think we've all been down main streets where we've seen certain shops operating. It's not always police officers who have the time or the resources available to actually do the additional compliance activities around ensuring tobacco control, so we want to expand the number of people who are able to undertake those duties. State, territory and local government officers with the responsibilities for health or tobacco control matters will be able to be appointed as authorised officers. The secretary must still be satisfied that any person appointed as an authorised officer has suitable qualifications, training and experience.

The government is greatly concerned about the serious health risks of smoking, including cancers, and has continued the efforts of previous governments to support and build on Australia's great success in tobacco control. On 6 May 2018, the government announced new budget measures to tackle the illicit tobacco trade. The government has introduced a comprehensive new framework to provide the Australian Border Force and the Australian Taxation Office with strengthened enforcement measures and additional resources to deter those who profit from illicit tobacco.

The excise increases announced in the 2015-16 budget were firmly based on the evidence that this would further help reduce smoking. The announcement in the 2017-18 budget to harmonise taxation of roll-your-own and manufactured cigarettes is also intended to ensure fairness and efficiencies in tobacco taxes.

As I said, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death and disability in Australia. Tobacco use is the only risk factor shared by all four main categories of non-communicable diseases, namely cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. The most recent available estimates show that the socioeconomic cost of smoking in Australia was $31.5 billion.

In 2011 tobacco use killed almost 19,000 Australians and was responsible for nine per cent of our total burden of disease and injury, making it the most burdensome risk factor. On 1 June 2017 the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016's key findings, which showed that the decline in smoking prevalence rates amongst daily smokers aged 14 years and over slowed in 2016. It decreased from 12.8 per cent in 2013 to 12.2 per cent. In 2016, those living in remote or very remote areas were approximately twice as likely to report as being daily smokers, at 20.7 per cent, compared to those living in major cities, at 10.6 per cent. Daily smoking rates amongst those living in regional areas were also 40 to 70 per cent higher compared to those living in major cities over the same period. The 2014-15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey shows that the proportion of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who were daily smokers was 38.9 per cent in 2014-15, down from 44.6 per cent in 2008 and an incredible 48.6 per cent in 2002. Nearly half of that population was smoking over 15 years ago.

The measures that we have put in, that the previous government has put in and that our state and territory governments have initiated are working, and we must continue to push forward in this regard. The AIHW report Burden of cancer in Australia: Australian burden of disease study 2011 shows that tobacco was the largest risk factor that contributed to the burden of cancer. Tobacco was attributed to 11 different types of cancer and was responsible for almost twice as many cancer DALY—disability adjusted life years—in males and females. Almost one-quarter of the total cancer burden can be attributed to tobacco use. In 2016 it was estimated that lung cancer will be the leading cause of cancer death in both females and males—over 3,700 females and 5,000 males.

The Department of Health has policy responsibility for illicit tobacco in relation to its work under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the development of the National Tobacco Strategy and, broadly, in its work to reduce smoking prevalence rates. Although the department takes a significant interest in illicit tobacco and the market drivers that influence the illicit trade, it does so from a health perspective, ensuring that consumers are provided with the full suite of government strategies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption rates in Australia. The department is proactively engaging with other agencies on the issue of illicit tobacco to increase cooperation and collaboration. The department is concerned about illicit trade in tobacco products because (a) it impacts directly on the effectiveness of price based public health policies aimed at decreasing smoking rates, and (b) smokers accessing illicit products may not benefit from other public health messages, including tobacco plain packaging and graphic health warnings.

Essence Communications is undertaking a market research evaluation for the department of the current graphic health warnings on tobacco products that are prescribed under the competition and consumer law. The market research evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the current graphic health warnings and provide advice to inform further work in that area. The final report is expected to be delivered to the department in September 2018, so by the end of this month.

I've already mentioned the National Tobacco Campaign. To see our health workers combining with community organisations, not-for-profit organisations, sporting organisations and Indigenous communities to stand together to reduce tobacco use in the Indigenous community is absolutely something we want to see as a government. I know a couple of senators who have spoken against this particular bill say the bill's not required. It's primarily intended to allow for the ongoing appointment of National Measurement Institute officers as authorised officers and the inclusion of relevant state and territory health officers, state and territory police officers and local government officers to provide future flexibility and increased cooperation to respond to noncompliance with the act should it be needed and agreed to in the future.

Sometimes we wonder that the implications may be for the state and territory health departments or local governments. The bill doesn't place any obligation on state and territory agencies or local government entities to be appointed as authorised officers unless and until there's a desire to enter into an agreement. So this is not a case of the Commonwealth coming in over the top; it is a case of us providing the framework in which states and territories can ensure that their health officers, their police officers and their local government officers that deal in this space are adequately considered under the federal legislation to assist us with compliance measures. I want to make that very, very clear. The bill is intended to ensure that National Measurement Institute officers are still able to be appointed as authorised officers should that agency undergo organisational changes. This bill will allow the appointment, as I have already mentioned, of local government officials, state and territory police officers and those with responsibilities for ensuring healthy communities within local governments.

In terms of who was consulted, the initial consultation was undertaken within jurisdictional representatives. A follow-up consultation with each state and territory health department, police force and local government representative body occurred from October 2017 to March 2018. In New South Wales, comment was also sought from the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet, as requested by that state's department of health. Some agencies initially expressed concern in relation to the potential for their officers to be appointed as authorised officers either because their view was that it did not fall within their remit or due to resourcing concerns. After further discussion, these agencies were able to support the amendment on the basis that any appointment of authorised officers would be after a formal agreement was made, and the bill reflects the requirement for an agreement to be in place. In terms of financial impact, the amendment will not result in any further financial impact on the Commonwealth above the current costs associated with tobacco plain packaging compliance and enforcement activities.

The bill does not change our packaging requirements and will not impact the obligations of tobacco manufacturers, distributors or retailers. Consultation, as I said, was broad. After further discussion, there is agreement. The bill will improve plain packaging compliance and enhance enforcement capabilities to support the control measures.

I thank senators for their contribution and for their brief insight into their own individual struggles with smoking and with tobacco control. I commend the bill to the Senate.