Page 217 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 23 February 1994
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Madam Speaker, the smokescreen of deception that has been thrown up is intended to deflect attention from the real issues. Not once did I hear any of you talk about employees. What about the effect on employees? What are you going to do about it? Absolutely nothing.
Mrs Carnell: That is why we want to ban it everywhere.
MR BERRY: No, you do not. Mrs Carnell says that she wants to ban it, except where there is ventilation. Then what about the employees?
Mrs Carnell: If it worked, yes.
MR BERRY: What nonsense! This is purely and simply about the duty of care under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Mr Humphries: What about the bars in the Labor Club? What about the employees there?
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MR BERRY: They just babble on. Do not take any notice of them. I will just turn up the volume a bit, Madam Speaker.
Mr Wood: They have been babbling today.
MR BERRY: They are embarrassed; that is why. Purely and simply, this legislation is about the Government's public health responsibilities and the community's right to an environment free of recognised risks to health. If we were talking today about protecting people from contaminated water, industrial pollutants or drunk drivers, I doubt very much whether we would be hearing so much about freedom of choice.
Largely because of our success in ridding our air of other contaminants, the most significant indoor air pollutant for many Australians today is the lethal cocktail of toxins called environmental tobacco smoke. There is no question about that. Mrs Carnell should be hiding under her table in case some of her former health colleagues see her actions in this matter. The fact that tobacco smoke enters the environment as a result of individuals smoking rather than from, say, a factory chimney is relevant to how we tackle the problem but not whether we tackle it. I should not have to remind this Assembly that every major health and medical organisation within Australia and throughout the world agrees that environmental tobacco smoke increases the risk of ill health in non-smokers.
Mr Humphries: So do we.
Mr De Domenico: Including in bars.
MR BERRY: Why are you backing off, then? You all think you are so much smarter than these people. You all want to delay the Bill. These groups have all urged that preventative action be taken so that involuntary exposure is eliminated from public places, public transport and workplaces.
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