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Health Minister ‘monitoring’ overseas tobacco clampdowns
The UK Prime Minister has followed New Zealand’s move by signalling an intent to prevent younger generations from ever buying tobacco.
The UK is the second country to signal its intent to stop future generations from buying cigarettes altogether.
Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler has said the Government is monitoring ‘with interest’ overseas plans to make the sale of tobacco permanently illegal to future generations.
This week, the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a scheme – which is yet to be legislated – which would mean that young people born after 2008 will never be able to buy tobacco if it is implemented.
The announcement is similar to a move taken by New Zealand last year, with that country’s parliament passing laws making the sale of tobacco illegal to those born from 1 January 2009 onwards in legislation widely described as ‘world first’.
Talking to the ABC this week, Minister Butler said the Australian Government will be tracking the progress of both countries’ reforms.
‘The UK and New Zealand have responded to the specific tactics of “Big Tobacco” marketed to their populations, and we will monitor their implementation success with interest,’ he said.
The Government has also introduced new legislation, which is expected to become law next year, that is designed to clampdown on the use of tobacco.
However, the legislation does not include any attempt to permanently prevent younger generations from ever buying tobacco products.
The Australian measures include steps to:
- improve graphic warnings on packaging, including warnings on individual cigarettes
- standardise the tobacco packet and product sizes
- prevent the use of additives in tobacco products such as menthols
- standardise the design and look of filters
- limit the use of appealing names that imply reduced harm
- require health promotion inserts in packs and pouches
- improve transparency for tobacco sales, product contents, and advertising and promotional activities
- capture vapes in advertising restrictions.
In
his announcement last month, Minister Butler said the legislation will be enforced from 1 April 2024, if it is passed.
‘In the Australian context, we have assessed all of those best practice measures, and they are now incorporated into legislation which has been the subject of substantial exposure and consultation,’ he said this week.
‘Our next-generation tobacco legislation in parallel with our vaping reforms are policy settings that will make a real difference.’
Minister Butler has also acknowledged the current aim of reducing the smoking rate to 5% by 2030 is
not on target.
The target, which is cited in the
National Tobacco Strategy 2023–30, is unlikely to be met according to research published earlier this year by the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney.
In an article published in
the Tobacco Control journal, authors said the 5% adult daily smoking prevalence target ‘cannot be achieved by … 2030 based on current trends’.
‘Urgent investment in concerted strategies that prevent smoking initiation and facilitate cessation is necessary to achieve 5% prevalence by 2030,’ they wrote.
Figures published
by the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest around one in 10 adults (10.1%) smoked in 2021–22.
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