Page 3763 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 October 1990
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will go into the ACT Health Promotion Fund which is used to increase and enhance health promotion activities and replace existing tobacco sponsorship.
My understanding is that about $70,000 per annum of sports sponsorship was sponsored by tobacco companies in the ACT in the past, and I believe that even includes racing events. That is not a very significant sum. There is probably about $50,000 per annum of other indirect tobacco sponsorship. I am pleased to see that the break-up of our fund is very similar to that of other States, and that is a minimum of 15 per cent spent on the arts, a minimum of 30 per cent spent on sport, 40 per cent for a general health message, 5 per cent, I understand, for research and 10 per cent for administration. I think it is important to keep the costs of administration down to a bare minimum in all those things. I would certainly commend to the health Minister - and I have had a number of discussions with him in relation to this fund - that it is important in the formative stages of this fund for it to be set up to operate at maximum efficiency.
I believe that it is very important for the health message to get through, and I think that one of the greatest ways of doing that is by promoting sporting events. In Western Australia their legislation has a similar break-up to ours. It will be passed very shortly in that State. The amount it will be spending on sport will range from 30 per cent up to 50 per cent.
When we look at that 40 per cent for a general health message, I would certainly hope, and would like to see it happen, that the greater percentage of that will be spent promoting that health message through sport, because sport and smoking simply do not mix. Any good sports man or woman will tell you that, though there might be odd exceptions. I think young people are much influenced by role models and role models quite often are sporting heroes, rather than perhaps an official from the health department going around and giving them what tends to be a rather more boring message. They will take much more notice, for example, of Herb McEachin, from the Cannons, going around preaching an anti-smoking message than they will of a health department official.
Also, Mr Speaker, it is interesting to note that another avenue where the message can get through, especially to young people, is through the use of certain popular TV shows. I am pleased to see that the teenage mutant ninja turtles, who some people criticise for having a bad effect on kids - some kids go down drains because it is "cool" to be in drains and because the turtles come out of drains in New York city - also saying that it is "cool" not to smoke. That is certainly going to - - -
Mr Berry: I do not watch them, Bill.
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