Page 3164 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 20 September 1994
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Mr Moore: You do not even understand what the standard is about.
MR BERRY: I do understand what the standard is about, but what I have pointed out to you - - -
Mr Moore: You do not. You do not understand how it works. That is what a standard does; it sets out all those things.
MR BERRY: The Australian standard, Mr Moore, does not point out where the 50 per cent of the area will be marked out on the floor with a piece of chalk. That is your definition, and you have not defined it.
Mr Moore: It sets out how the whole area will be ventilated.
MR BERRY: The whole area will be ventilated and, of course, the whole area will be impinged upon by the carcinogen-laden recycled air, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. So, the people that Mr Stevenson polls will not get their choice. They will think that they get their choice in 10 per cent of premises, but when it is measured by people like the Environmental Protection Agency they will find out that there is 226 times the level of carcinogens allowed. In the case of those premises where the people that Mr Stevenson has polled reckon that there ought to be a choice, there will be a total ban.
My view is that there should be a ban on smoking in restaurants. I think that is supported out there in the community. It ought to be done in accordance with the plans by the Government. The occupational health and safety code which has been issued by the Minister for Industrial Relations will, of course, deal with workplace safety in a far better way than two pages in a 45-page report will. (Extension of time granted) I am confident that that approach will work. I am absolutely confident that the approach taken by Mr Moore will not work, because it guarantees locking in smoking in the workplace of employees under this legislation. In 25 per cent of restaurants there can be smoking. The effects of the occupational health and safety legislation in clubs will be 50 per cent.
Mr Moore: Address what you would do about clubs.
MR BERRY: The club industry, of course, will, in accordance with the occupational health and safety requirements, end up being smoke free - not 50 per cent of the clubs; all of them. What you are doing is making sure that you lock in tobacco consumption, not only in the ACT but across the country, because the likes of Philip Morris and all of the other tobacco companies will grab this with both hands and will be selling it not only around Australia but around the world, where efforts are being made to cut out the consumption of tobacco in the interests of public health.
Health workers like Mrs Carnell normally, one would expect, would support the sensible approach that is being taken by the Government: Take the community with us; consult with the community and take them with us. Of course, what Mr Moore has come up with is something that will not please the industry, because it will not be a level playing field. It will not please the patrons; it will not satisfy the people that Mr Stevenson has polled; it will not please - - -
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