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February 1st, 2012:

Liberals using tobacco revenue to fund attack ads

http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=34153

Lara Giddings, MP

Tasmania Premier

Wednesday, 1 February 2012


Liberals using tobacco revenue to fund attack ads


The Premier, Lara Giddings, said the Liberal Opposition had been exposed using money from tobacco companies to fund their expensive commercial television campaign.

Ms Giddings said the latest political donations report by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) showed that the Liberals received $22,000 from British American Tobacco and $15,900 from Phillip Morris last year.

“It is reprehensible that the Liberal Party in Tasmania continues to accept donations from tobacco companies,” Ms Giddings said.

“We now know how Will Hodgman can afford to bombard commercial television with glossy ads in the lead-up to the next EMRS poll.

“Those ads should carry the disclaimer: funded by Big Tobacco.

“It is also clear why the State Director of the Liberal Party, Sam McQuestin was so reluctant to answer how the ads were funded when asked on ABC Radio this week*

“He didn’t want to reveal that the propaganda the Liberals are peddling to the Tasmanian people is being paid for by companies that cost our health system millions of dollars every year in treating tobacco related diseases.”

Ms Giddings called on the Liberal Party to immediately cease taking donations from tobacco companies.

“More than half the Liberal Party’s disclosed donations now come from tobacco companies, adding to the $56,000 since 2003.

“Will Hodgman and the Liberals are hopelessly addicted to tobacco donations and they should come clean with the Tasmanian people what other grubby campaigns they are preparing to fund with their rivers of tar.”

*COMPTON     Where did the money come from? Most people who have been around the state political traps for any length of time would know that campaigns are hard to fund even at the height of the election cycle. Where did the money come from?

McQUESTIN     Ah well.., err, the.., the money has come from.., err.., err.., from our own.., err, resources, I suppose, Leon. Err, we have a.., a consistent fundraising activity which I don’t think I’d.., I’m keen to outline, but.., that will.., err, that continues on and on, and.., as I say, given the unstable nature of.., of this.., this Government.., err, we decided it was a good opportunity to.., to u.., to use some now.

Do smokers in Europe think all cigarettes are equally harmful?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22294783

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Despite the ban on misleading descriptors such as light or mild cigarettes in Europe, there are still widespread misperceptions of the relative harmfulness of different brands of cigarettes among smokers. This study examined the extent to which smokers in three European countries believed that some cigarette brands are less harmful and why, using data from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Europe surveys.

METHODS:

Cross-sectional analyses were completed among nationally representative samples of 4,956 current smokers (aged ≥ 18) from Germany (n = 1,515), France (n = 1,735) and the United Kingdom (n = 1,706) conducted between September 2006 and November 2007. Logistic regression models examined whether outcomes, including beliefs that some cigarettes could be less harmful than others, varied by socio-demographic and country of residence.

FINDINGS:

Around a quarter of smokers in the UK and France, and a third in Germany believed some cigarettes are less harmful than others. Overall, of smokers who falsely believed that some cigarettes are less harmful, 86.3% thought that tar/nicotine yields, 48.7% taste, and 40.4% terms on packs such as ‘smooth’ or ‘ultra’ indicated less harmful brands. About a fifth of smokers across all countries chose their brand based on health reasons, and a similar proportion gave tar yields as a reason for choosing brands.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our research suggests that the current European Tobacco Products Directive is inadequate in eliminating misperceptions about the relative risk of brand descriptors on cigarettes. There is therefore an urgent need to protect smokers in Europe from these misperceptions via stronger measures such as plain packaging regulations.

Australia now has the largest graphic health warnings in the world

Dear All,

On 23 December 2011, the Australian Government made the new standard which updates and expands the graphic health warning regime in Australia. Health warnings will now be required to cover 75% of the front of packs and 90% of the back of packs (for cigarettes, slightly different for other packaging formats). A new set of 14 health warnings for cigarette packaging and new warnings for other tobacco products, including single sale cigars, were also included in the new standard.

Tobacco manufacturers and importers can choose to use either the old warnings or the updated warnings between 1 January 2012 ? 30 November 2012. From 1 December 2012, all packaging must have the updated warnings along with being compliant with the new plain packaging requirements.

The Government undertook extensive research to inform the new warnings and this research, along with the research for plain packaging, can be found at:
http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing….

The standard which contains the updated warnings are under a different piece of legislation to plain packaging ? see links and a copy of the media release below.

Regards, Kylie

Kylie Lindorff
Policy Manager
Quit Victoria
Cancer Council Victoria
100 Drummond St, Carlton
Victoria 3053 Australia
(w) 61. 3. 9635 5518
(m) 61. (0)409 974 547
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Competition and Consumer (Tobacco) Information Standard 2011
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011L02766

David Bradbury MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer
Media Release
GOVERNMENT UPDATES GRAPHIC HEALTH WARNINGS FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, David Bradbury, today announced that the
Government has updated and expanded the graphic health warnings for tobacco products.

?Today the Competition and Consumer (Tobacco) Information Standard 2011 (the Standard) was
made. The Standard updates and expands the graphic health warnings that are currently
required to be displayed on most tobacco packaging,? said Mr Bradbury.

?The Standard will apply to all tobacco products supplied in Australia in retail packaging. All
tobacco products are harmful to health. Accordingly, health warnings are being applied to convey
a consistent public health message about the risks associated with tobacco use.?

?The Standard forms an important part of a comprehensive package of measures that were
announced by the Government in April last year to target tobacco use and its harmful effects,?
Mr Bradbury added.

The updated and expanded health warnings in the Standard are based on consumer research, an
evaluation of the current health warnings, and public consultations which took place between
September 2011 and December 2011.

The Standard was made under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 with the support of the
Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs (CAF). CAF is comprised of
Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers responsible for consumer affairs and consumer
protection laws.

The Standard will commence on 1 January 2012. Transitional arrangements will allow for an
orderly transition to the updated health warnings. Between 1 January 2012 and 30 November
2012, tobacco products that are subject to the current health warnings ? under the Trade
Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Tobacco) Regulations 2004 ? can either
continue to comply with these current requirements or they can comply with the updated
requirements under the Standard.

On 1 December 2012, the current health warnings will be replaced with the updated warnings in
the Standard. From 1 December 2012, all tobacco products supplied in Australia in retail
packaging must display the updated health warnings under the Standard.

The implementation timeframes for the Standard are aligned with the timeframes under the
Government?s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011.
23 December 2011