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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (25 March) . . Page.. 828 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I am proud today to present the Tobacco (Amendment) Bill 1999 to the Legislative Assembly. The ACT has been at the forefront of legislative reform to minimise the incidence of tobacco-related illness in the Canberra community.

Mr Osborne: You prohibitionist!

MR MOORE: The Government has a tireless commitment to introducing comprehensive measures to minimise the harm caused by drugs of addiction, and these amendments will result in our jurisdiction having the most stringent regime in Australia. I noted an interjection from Mr Osborne about prohibition. It will not surprise him to know that I will address that issue during this speech. Just hold your seat for a little while, Mr Osborne. I know that the suspense is great, but - - -

MR SPEAKER: Order! Interjections are out of order.

MR MOORE: Absolutely, Mr Speaker. I begin by talking about the raft of measures we have in place. They include: The Smoke Free Areas Act 1994, which, as you know, restricts smoking in enclosed public places; the Tobacco Act 1927, which controls the sale and supply of tobacco products to persons under 18 years, cigarette vending machines, and the advertising and promotion of tobacco products; and the Tobacco Licensing Act 1984, which licenses tobacco retailers and wholesalers in the ACT.

These amendments to the Tobacco Act 1927 will significantly reduce children's exposure to the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. We have chosen these measures specifically as the uptake of regular smoking predominantly occurs within this age group. The amendments have been developed after extensive consultation with young people, parents, local tobacco retailers, health groups and the tobacco industry itself.

In September 1997 an exposure draft proposing amendments and a discussion paper were released for public comment. Meetings were held with major stakeholders and 26 written submissions were received. You can imagine that what is proposed evoked a wide range of responses, with the tobacco industry and retailers arguing that the measures were placing unreasonable costs on business and, at the other end of the spectrum, health and advocacy groups expressing concerns on health grounds that the provisions did not go far enough.

We have taken these diverse views into consideration in the preparation of this Bill, Mr Speaker. These reforms will eliminate point of sale advertising, limit the point of sale displays of tobacco products to one square metre, and limit the product information displayed to one square metre. The displays are required to be behind the sales counter and not visible from a public place - for example, a shopping mall or street frontage.

The amendments will also update the definition of tobacco advertising to include electronic sounds or images; prohibit the display of tobacco products or tobacco packaging which are displayed with the intent of forming a tobacco advertisement; limit the points at which tobacco can be sold to one in non-licensed premises and to a maximum of five in licensed premises; restrict the placement of tobacco vending

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