Page 190 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 23 February 1994
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MRS CARNELL: Without a timeframe; that is right. Mr Berry has suggested that when the community comes along, when the community catches up, he might do it. Quite seriously, Mr Berry, that is not good enough. This is a serious public health problem, so why hit the restaurants and not the others? What we are attempting to do here, Mr Berry, is come up with a position that means that we do have a total ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces. If Mr Berry were serious about the public health issue he would be looking at a total ban. The Liberal Party believes - I think the Labor Party has said the same sorts of things on occasions - that changing the rules for small business without giving them some opportunity to phase in is simply inappropriate. It certainly makes it very difficult for small businesses to operate. So the Liberal Party is suggesting a total ban with a phase-in period. It is very simple.
Mr Berry: No, you are not. Do not mislead the chamber.
MRS CARNELL: That is exactly what we are suggesting. A total ban on smoking in all enclosed - - -
Mr Berry: Unless they have ventilation.
MRS CARNELL: Okay; unless there are adequate ventilation systems. That gives a business an opportunity to put in a ventilation system that, under the Australian standards currently, changes the total air in rooms once every four minutes. That is 15 times an hour. Those are the Australian standards for rooms that have smoking in them, based upon an occupancy loading of one per square metre, which is exactly Mr Connolly's approach to occupancy loadings. So, we already have an Australian standard. We already have an Australian standard to provide clean air.
Mr Berry: No, not for smoking. No, you do not.
MRS CARNELL: Yes, we do. There is absolutely no reason, Mr Berry, why this Assembly cannot look at that standard and determine whether it is appropriate. That is one of the reasons why I support the referral to a committee. A committee can look at extraction systems to determine whether it is possible to put them in and to have an environment that is safe for non-smokers.
I think Mr Humphries, or maybe it was Mr De Domenico, mentioned the casino a minute ago. We cannot suggest that it is all right to have smoking in the casino but somehow not all right to have it in other establishments in Canberra.
Mr Berry: I have not said that.
MRS CARNELL: But it is true. Why is the casino putting in very expensive smoke extraction systems, Mr Berry, if you have told them that they are going to end up smoke free? I think there was a very good quote when the first sod was turned at the new Tuggeranong sports club. Jim Shonk, the president of the Tuggeranong Valley and District Sports Club, said, "We were very nervous about the impact of foreshadowed legislation about smoking in licensed clubs on our trade and revenue, but it is all right; the Minister has told us that it will not be a problem".
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