Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak about the appalling decision by this government of 50 per cent funding cut in this year’s budget to essential anti-tobacco campaigns to preventative health organisation Quit Tasmania. I am sure the irony is not lost on anyone that last Saturday was World No Tobacco Day, an important milestone to celebrate all that has been achieved towards smoking reduction and particularly we will concentrate on Tasmania.
I acknowledge the amazing work Quit Tasmania, Public Health officials, general practitioners, local governments and so forth have achieved in this space. In 2001, 23.7 per cent of Tasmanians smoked. Compare that to 14.6 per cent in 2022 and 2023. That is a 9.1 per cent drop over those 12 years. This has been no accident, but the concerted effort of health organisations, governments, Australia’s world-leading public health campaigns, education strategies and more.
Tasmanians from all backgrounds have pulled together with the goal to stamp out smoking in our community, which is why it was so disappointing to hear that the Liberal government has cut Quit Tasmania’s funding for their anti-tobacco campaigns in half, effective from the 30 June. Unfortunately, that figure is waning. The national scorecard of ACOSH, the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, which has awarded Tasmania a B this year for progress on tobacco and vaping and I quote –
The Tasmanian government is showing progress by updating state legislation. However, their funding, commitment to public education and campaigns needs to be lifted and maintained at evidence-based levels.
Despite all that has been achieved, the fight against smoking is far from over. Thirteen per cent of Tasmanians still smoke, which is an estimated 60,000 people who spend over a billion dollars per year on this addictive curse that is tobacco. Two in three people die from a tobacco related illness, an estimated 500 Tasmanians per year. Our illegal tobacco and vaping problem continues to spiral out of control with governments and law-enforcement officials struggling to keep up, and sadly, we have a vaping crisis on our hands. One in five young people now vape, which makes young people who do not smoke five times more likely to take up the addictive habit of smoking.
The time to take action on rates of smoking is now. This is not an issue we have stamped out for good, but one that requires ongoing action and clever campaigns. Quit Tasmania is Tasmania’s leading voice when it comes to smoking prevention. Not only do they offer individual counselling and support to help Tasmanians quit, they provide essential public information campaigns that encourage people to not take up smoking in the first place. Evidence consistently shows that the best way to stop smoking is to cut it back at the roots. This is the best bang for your buck solution that not only promotes better health but saves the government money in the long run.
Perhaps what is strange about the government’s announcement is the fact that it has coincided with the government’s own plans to release their 20-year preventative health strategy. It also coincides with the government’s Tasmanian Cancer Plan. Surely the government knows that smoking is a leading cause of 16 cancers. Frontline organisations like Quit Tasmania should be properly funded to undertake their essential work.
I finish with two key questions of the Liberals, and the Greens believe it is something that the public has a right to know. Has anyone in your Cabinet been lobbied to weaken regulations regarding the sale of smoke and products? Does this influence how you decide to fund projects which curb tobacco use?
