Page 3316 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 12 October 1993
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MR BERRY: On the other hand, we also believe, along with the majority of the community, that the measures we have proposed not only are inevitable but also will constitute a major step forward towards achieving a healthier environment for us all. I present a copy of this statement, and I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (3.25): I would like to use this opportunity to support in principle, as Mr Berry knows well, his proposals for improving the general health of the community. I was very pleased, though, to hear Mr Berry say that he was not going down the track of making changes overnight. As much as we must take into account the real health of the community and the obvious problems that passive smoking causes for the community as a whole, we also must take into account the viability of small businesses in our region and in our city. It is not appropriate to make changes overnight, and I was very pleased to hear Mr Berry say that he was not planning to do that. I think he made the comment that he was looking at a phased-in approach - something that the Liberal Party would very definitely support. We definitely support an approach that will give small businesses an opportunity to come to grips with the changes in the community and the changes that will be required of them. This will not be something that they will be able to achieve over a few weeks or a few months; it will take time.
I know, as the Chief Minister does, that small business in this city employs a very large percentage of Canberrans, particularly our young people. The industries that this change will hit the worst are those in the hospitality area that employ our young people. I know that Mr Berry would also agree that the last thing we want to do is to make one young person lose their job, or, alternatively, stop a hotel, a tavern or a restaurant employing one of the 37 per cent of our young people who are currently unemployed. We certainly do support Mr Berry's real efforts to improve the public health, the health of the people of Canberra; but, I say again, it is very important for him to take heed of his own words - that the changes must not be made overnight. They must be phased in and small business must have an opportunity to adapt in a cost-effective manner.
MR HUMPHRIES (3.28): Madam Speaker, I would like to support the comments made by Mrs Carnell and to reflect on the very long and tortuous process whereby the Territory has come to the position where it can consider proposals such as this. Members will recall that, over a great many years, legislation has been developed to deal with the problem of passive tobacco smoking, the availability of tobacco products to young people, the problem of advertising tobacco products in the community, and a whole series of issues associated with the harm that tobacco does. I am very proud to have been responsible for tabling in this Assembly in 1990 the legislation which created so many landmarks, as it were, in Australian health development in dealing with tobacco products in the ACT in a way which had not previously been the case in other jurisdictions. This was the first jurisdiction in the country to just about totally ban tobacco advertising. It was the first jurisdiction, I think, to deal with the sale of tobacco products to children under the age of 18 years, and we have led the field in that respect. Many other jurisdictions have now followed the lead that we set.
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