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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (11 May) . . Page.. 1432 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

used by people who might otherwise stop smoking in the mistaken belief that these products are a "safe" alternative to tobacco. Although herbal cigarettes do not contain nicotine and are not addictive, they are certainly not "safe".

There are also concerns about herbal cigarettes, the sale of which is not currently age restricted, being used as a way for young people to be introduced to smoking and to be attracted to a product which seems "natural". So why have these products not been subject to some controls? The reason is that they fall outside the definition of "tobacco products" and hence outside the scope of tobacco legislation.

The present bill seeks to redress this by amending the relevant provisions of the Tobacco Act 1927 and the Smoke-free Areas (Enclosed Public Places) Act 1994 so that herbal cigarettes are treated no differently from tobacco cigarettes in terms of limiting their sale to tobacco-licensed outlets, restricting their sale to persons aged 18 or over, limiting the public display of the products, prohibiting the advertising and promotion of the products, and providing for an offence of smoking these products where smoking is prohibited.

The bill also provides an opportunity to include changes to the Tobacco Act and the smoke-free areas act to bring this legislation into line with current drafting practice. In addition, the bill incorporates the repeal of the Tobacco Products (Health Warnings) Act 1986, which has been superseded by the Commonwealth's Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Tobacco) Regulations. It is important for members on reading this legislation to recognise that the repeal of the act does not mean that we have dropped it. It means that it is unnecessary because the Commonwealth legislation has effect.

Before the Commonwealth assumed responsibility for tobacco health warning legislation, the ACT had enacted legislation to give effect to the labelling requirements agreed by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy. The ACT legislation is therefore no longer required and can be repealed without threat to the existence of health warnings on tobacco products in the ACT. It is the government's intention that the ACT continue to be an active participant in discussions concerning consumer information about tobacco products and that this information be made stronger and more effective.

Mr Speaker, it is important to note that this bill addresses the concerns raised by some members of the Assembly in relation to the manner in which herbal cigarettes are advertised and promoted, particularly to young people. It does this by requiring that such advertising not be displayed and that the product not be sold to persons under the age of 18. The requirement that herbal cigarettes be sold only from outlets with a tobacco retail licence provides an effective way of ensuring that these products are sold only by retailers who comply with their legislative responsibilities.

We will not be the first to prohibit the sale of herbal cigarettes to persons under the age of 18: four states-Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales-have already done so. We will, however, be able to avoid a piecemeal approach by taking the lead in addressing the issue of advertising and promotion. This opportunity arises because, unlike some other jurisdictions, we had longer to develop the legislation and we had appropriate principal legislation into which the relevant requirements could be incorporated.

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