THE Federal Government says there are 15,000 excellent reasons why parliament will pass the world's first tobacco plain-packaging laws.
That’s the number of Australians who die each year from smoking-related diseases.Labor’s legislation will require all cigarettes to be sold in drab olive-brown packets from December 2012. the packs will be dominated by graphic health warnings with the brand name and variant printed in a standard size and font.the draft laws will be rammed through the Senate on Thursday evening under a guillotine which limits debate. the coalition supports the main plain packaging legislation but not an associated trademarks bill. But, both bills will pass the Senate with the support of the Greens. the legislation passed the House of Representatives in late August. Labor stalwart John Faulkner says a key objective of plain packaging is to stop children being attracted to cigarettes in the first place.“If this legislation stops one young Australian from picking up a shiny, coloured packet and prevents them becoming addicted to cigarettes, then in my view it will have been worthwhile,” Senator Faulkner told the upper house.Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale told the Senate he’d sat with many people dying of lung cancer during his former career as a doctor.
“I’ve been with them as they lose weight, as they struggle for breath, as they lie in excruciating pain,” he said during debate on the Tobacco Plain Packing bill. “It’s a death you would not wish on your worst enemy.”Senator Di Natale argued plain packaging would work because cigarette packs were so highly visible.“They’re a little billboard of nastiness advertising their wares to passers-by from pockets, from kitchen tables and dashboards of cars all around the country,” he said.Liberal senator Gary Humphries told the chamber the coalition had a long history of tobacco law reform. big Tobacco has vowed to challenge plain packaging in the courts once the legislation passes parliament. British American Tobacco Australia insists the commonwealth will be unlawfully acquiring its intellectual property rights and could have to pay billions of dollars in compensation.
World-first cigarette plain packaging set to become law