Last Tobacco Advertising Avenue Stubbed Out

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Tasmanians will no longer be subjected to tobacco online advertising after the Senate yesterday passed legislation that restricts online advertising

``Young Tasmanians will be less at risk of being lured into smoking as the final avenue for tobacco companies to freely promote their products and attract new customers is stubbed out,’’ Senator Lisa Singh said today.

Speaking on the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Amendment Bill yesterday, Senator Singh said that tobacco remained one of the leading causes of preventable death and disease among Australians.

`` Tasmania carries one of the highest burdens when it comes to smoking-related illness,’’ Senator Singh said.

``Tasmania has a very high adult smoking rate at 24.9% compared to 20.8% nationally.

``The Tasmanian Cancer Registry shows that lung cancer was the most common cause of cancer related death in 2008, with 235 Tasmanians dying from lung cancer.

``The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Amendment Bill brings restrictions on tobacco advertising on the internet in line with restrictions applying to other media and points of sale, with online retailers required to carry health warnings and restricting access to sites to persons aged 18 and over.

Senator Singh told the Senate that it was ``important to beat tobacco companies to the punch’’.

``We must head them off. We know that big tobacco is sneaky and we have to continue to play tough, as we have been doing, if we are going to win this fight.

``The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Amendment Bill is yet another example of how serious the Gillard Labor Government was about tobacco control.’’

``Since 2010, the Gillard Labor Government has invested $27.8 million in anti-smoking campaigns and passed the world’s first plain packaging legislation.

``These measures, along with this most recent Bill will make a difference when it comes to reducing smoking rates, and in turn, reducing the burden of tobacco-related disease which currently costs our community more than $30 billion each year.’’