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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4988 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

air monitoring study were not yet available, they would be taken into account in the development of the government's legislation. That legislation has been superseded by the decision of the Assembly to bring exemptions to an end and to agree to the government's proposal for a common end date of 1 December 2006, when the last of the present exemptions will have expired.

The findings of the present study, in addition to meeting the government's obligations in responding to the Assembly's motion, also provide important information about how to ensure that employees and patrons are not exposed to unnecessary health risks. The report's findings, together with the legislative framework now agreed, present an opportunity for proprietors and employers to review their smoking arrangements and to consider how smoking will be phased out in all indoor areas.

Mr Speaker, the success of the ACT's smoke-free areas act at a time when many people were saying it could not be done stands as proof that public health measures once thought to be controversial can be popular and well-supported. We now take for granted that people can go about their daily lives and participate fully in the life of the community without risks to their health from unnecessary pollutants in the air that they breathe. However, as the present study has shown, many workers in the hospitality industry and patrons in the hospitality venues have not been able to take that for granted.

Mr Speaker, the question is: where to next? In tabling these documents on 23 October, I noted that the government had a number of concerns: concerns for patrons who believed that they were being given a choice of a smoke-free environment; concern for employees who were subjected to tobacco smoke; concern for employers and proprietors who would like to believe that they were providing a safe and healthy environment; and concern for children who had no choice about the quality of the air that they breathed.

The findings of the report, together with the weight of medical, legal and public opinion, certainly suggest that moving in the direction of entirely smoke-free public enclosed places is advisable and achievable. I am pleased to acknowledge that we are now as an Assembly taking firm steps in the direction of being smoke free in all public places. I intend to work further with unions, employers, clubs and pubs in a cooperative manner to ensure that we are smoke free by the end of 2006.

The government is completing the regulatory impact statement which it commissioned prior to the debate last month to allow for the full regulatory impact still to be properly assessed, so that any assistance the government feels needs to be provided to employers, clubs and pubs to make the transition to being smoke free in 2006 can be well-informed and well put together.

I am looking forward to working in a cooperative manner with affected proprietors, employers and unions as we move to ensuring safe workplaces for all ACT workers. The government is committed to working with all parties towards achieving this goal on 1 December 2006.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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