David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to offer a brief contribution to the debate on the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023. This is an important bill and, clearly, a very important discussion. I enjoyed Senator Cadell's contribution.

While there's been a downward trend in daily tobacco smoking since 1991, it is still the leading cause of cancer in Australia. It contributes to 44 percent of the cancer burden in Australia and is estimated to cause the deaths of some 20,000 Australians per year. That's a lot of loss. That is a lot of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and friends taken too early, sometimes in the prime of their lives. This amount of loss is devastating, and we rarely talk about it because of the stigma associated with smoking. We need to be doing more, not just to stop new generations from smoking but also to provide people with the support that they may need if they would like to quit. In saying that, I feel we all need to take a non-judgemental, supportive approach to quitting, supported by strong public health measures.

Australia has led the way for decades on tobacco control, and today we can boast one of the lowest smoking rates in the world. To give an example: our nation's plain-packaging reforms were world leading when they were first introduced. According to at least one government study, they led to a huge 25 per cent decline in smoking rates between 2012 and 2015. This bill doesn't just ensure a continuation of the plain-packaging rules, which would otherwise sunset next year; it also completely modernises our public health approach to tobacco. As we heard in the inquiry, this bill takes the best bits from every jurisdiction in the world and combines them into a single instrument aimed at making tobacco less appealing, less attractive and less addictive.

This bill will update and improve health warnings on tobacco products. It will restrict additives that make cigarettes more appealing, more attractive and more addictive. It will curtail the loopholes that allow big tobacco to skirt plain-packaging rules through the use of brand and variant names. It will require tobacco manufacturers to add health inserts into packs. It will improve compliance, and marketing and advertising laws. It will allow the government to require measures that make cigarette sticks unappealing, such as the use of coloured paper or warnings written on the sticks themselves. It will even ban the advertising of e-cigarettes for the first time. It is a comprehensive package of reforms, and I want to commend Minister Butler and the Department of Health and Aged Care for bringing this legislation forward and for prioritising public health. I will note my support for the investments the minister is also making in public health measures to complement this legislation, including the funding that is being provided to re-establish a national tobacco TV campaign.

I want to raise an issue that has troubled me throughout the consideration of this bill, and that is the conduct of witnesses at the inquiry—specifically, the conduct of both the Australian Association of Convenience Stores and Master Grocers Australia. During the inquiry, both the chair and I put questions on notice relating to their financial ties with the tobacco and vaping industries. Australia has international obligations to diminish the political influence of the tobacco industry in the interests of protecting our tobacco control policies from the influence of big tobacco. The questions were highly relevant so that we, as senators and as the Senate, could be vigilant against any disguised motivations from parties with a financial stake in the tobacco industry. Both groups refused to answer these questions.

We have the right to ask these questions, and we are empowered to do so. We also have the right to expect honest answers. Their refusal to answer these basic questions on their financial relationships with the tobacco and vaping industries shows disrespect to this chamber which I believe borders on contempt. I would urge the chamber to take action on this, as failing to do so diminishes the inherent authority of the Senate and its ability to ask questions that others may find inconvenient. We cannot accept hidden influence from the tobacco industry, and we must question it if we suspect that there is this influence.

Shortly I will be moving a second reading amendment that calls on all politicians and political parties to stop accepting donations from tobacco companies and, importantly, to revoke their access to this building. There is obviously no transparency around who holds sponsored passes to access Parliament House, but we know big tobacco do wander these halls, presumably to find choice moments to bump into their mates and to give them copies of the latest talking points. This is why we desperately need transparency around which lobbyists hold access to this building. I bet, if big tobacco knew their names would become public, they would be handing back their passes. They would be doing that because we all know that it is completely outside the public interest for big tobacco to be in this building. If they are, then we should know who is here and how they got access. In 2023 no politician or political party should be accepting donations from big tobacco. I find it disgraceful that an industry that has caused so much despair in our community could be allowed to curry favour with politicians by making donations. I'm certain they don't make these donations with the expectation that they'll get nothing in return. Those donations almost certainly assist with access and therefore assist with influence over people in this chamber and in the other place, in direct conflict with our obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This is the only convention that we are party to that covers lobbying. The arrangements, to me, seem pretty loose in Parliament House. I'd urge the major parties to take this more seriously and align it with what I'm hearing are expectations from Australians—from the people that we represent.

Finally, I want to speak briefly on vaping. It's not the subject of this bill, but the two are clearly related. I'm pleased the government is bringing forward reforms. I've heard from too many parents here in the ACT who are concerned about their children, some of them young children, and their friends vaping. They are rightly scared about these extremely addictive products, with some of the disposable vapes reportedly containing levels of nicotine that are dangerous to young lungs, not being regulated and children being addicted in their early teens. I do have questions about the reforms that are coming forward. I want to be sure that we're not leaving people without the support that they may need. I want to be sure there is a plan and there are options for people that would like assistance in moving off nicotine. Again, I would like to acknowledge the work of Minister Butler, his staff and the department in bringing forward this legislation. A package this comprehensive would have been the labour of dozens of public servants working behind the scenes across multiple departments and agencies, so I thank you for all of your work on this.

There are a range of investments that have been made to complement this legislation, and I know there are many advocates and many stakeholders who will be keeping an eye on that funding to ensure programs and campaigns do come to fruition. I hope this will all reach the very worthy goal of cutting daily smoking to five per cent or below by 2030, as stated in the National Tobacco Strategy 2023-2030. We can do it. As we travel this renewed phase in tobacco control, let's keep in mind the need to treat everyone with understanding and with dignity. Stigma is clearly counterproductive to our goals on tobacco control. I commend this bill to the Senate.