Western Australia will regain its place as a national leader in tobacco control if a Bill introduced on Wednesday, 26 November 2009, by Member for Alfred Cove Dr Janet Woollard becomes legislation.

Dr Woollard, a long-time advocate for tobacco control, has introduced the Tobacco Products Control Amendments Bill 2008. This will:

• Protect children’s health by banning smoking in cars where children are present.

• Protect the health of non-smokers by banning smoking in al fresco eating areas, outdoor playing areas and in patrolled areas in beaches.

• Protect children and quitters and ex-smokers from tobacco promotion by banning any display of tobacco products at the point of sale.

Dr Woollard said, “Smoking remains our largest preventable cause of death. It kills one in two regular users, causes the deaths of over 1400 West Australians every year, and costs our State more than $2.4 billion annually. Passive smoking is also now a well recognised cause of ill health. We must act and act now to protect the health of children and non-smokers.”

“WA has traditionally been a national leader in tobacco control, but we have been overtaken by other States. All the measures in this Bill have been introduced by other States. No less than four States (New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia) have legislated to protect children from passive smoking in cars, two (Tasmania and New South Wales) have legislated to ban product display at point of sale. Queensland and many local governments here and in other States have also moved to protect the health of non-smokers in al fresco dining areas and other locations.”

“Many surveys have shown that there is overwhelming public support for all the measures in this Bill. The Minister for Health has promoted a ban on smoking in cars where children are present. The Opposition proposed action similar to that in my Bill before the election. I hope therefore that there will be support from all parties.”

“This Bill is supported by the major health NGOs, including the Cancer Council, the Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH), the Australian Medical Association and the Heart Foundation. There will no doubt be objections from the tobacco industry and its allies, but these should simply be seen as special interest pleading. Indeed, the more the industry and its friends protest, the more we know we are on the right track”.