Page 1455 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2007
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earned myself the nickname of “the pure one”. Just a few years ago I felt the very real pain that this dreaded habit can inflict when my half-sister, a heavy smoker suffering from emphysema, succumbed to a winter bout of influenza and died.
By this time tomorrow, nearly 50 Australians will have died prematurely from diseases related to smoking. The direct causes may be varied, but each one will be connected to smoking-related illness and disease. About three million Australians still smoke regularly, and nearly 19,000 will die this year from the various diseases and illnesses that it causes.
The real issue is not what we say here—it is not what we assert; it is not even what we propose in this place—but what we do. That is what I want to highlight today. I want to highlight what the Stanhope government have done, what we are doing, and what we plan to do.
I do not think that anyone would argue about the enormous economic and social costs associated with smoking. There is any number of reasons which motivate this government to act in relation to this most pressing issue.
As I have already explained, approximately 19,000 Australians every year will die from smoking-related causes. Smoking has a devastating impact upon our community and is destructive on many different levels. The damage inflicted on our society has no respect for age, class or gender. Even a cursory examination of the figures reveals a staggering amount of pain and suffering for hundreds of thousands of Australians, including many Canberrans. It is important to keep this in mind as I refer to the following disturbing facts.
Smoking is the single greatest cause of death and disease in Australia. In 2001 alone it was responsible for over 140,000 hospital episodes. It is responsible for approximately 80 per cent of all lung cancer deaths and 20 per cent of all other cancer deaths. It is linked to cancer of the mouth, cervix, bladder, kidney and stomach, to name only a few.
Smoking lowers the capacity of one’s immune system and causes greater risk of respiratory infections in particular. There are detrimental effects on one’s digestive tract, possibly blindness and premature wrinkling of the skin. Women smokers suffer from reduced fertility and a risk of premature menopause, and there is a risk of stroke and heart attack for women who smoke and take oral contraceptives.
Smoking is responsible for multiple cases of lung cancer and death from lung cancer—approximately 11 people a year in Australia alone. Smoking can kill those of us who do not smoke and can subject countless numbers of us to many illnesses and diseases. Consider the following: smoking by expectant mothers is linked to premature births, miscarriages and low birth rates and an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes for these children when they reach adulthood. Smoking is a significant factor in the development of asthma in children. Paternal smoking has been linked to sudden infant death syndrome as well as an increased risk of upper respiratory tract and ear infections in babies and children. Finally, if you are a non-smoker and you live with a smoker, the chance of you having a heart attack or dying from coronary heart disease increases by a huge 24 per cent—
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