Smoking Rates

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question regarding community health.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: As a long-term advocate for country issues, it is a concern to me that smoking in country areas is often higher than in metropolitan Adelaide. Can the minister update the council on smoking rates in South Australia?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question in what is a very important area of public health policy. The Australian public has become increasingly aware of the negative impact of smoking. On an individual level, in South Australia alone three people die every day from smoking-related diseases. This is in addition to the smoking-related diseases thousands of other South Australians live with on a daily basis and the emotional stress that is caused to families and loved ones.

In broader economic terms, my colleague the Treasurer recently handed down a state budget of around $18 billion. Each year, the cost of smoking to South Australian health care and in terms of lost productivity is estimated to be around $2.5 billion, or around 13 per cent of the state budget. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to working to reduce smoking and its associated harm in South Australia.

Each year, SAHMRI delivers a report on smoking control in South Australia, and they released their most recent report recently. The report reflects data for 2017 and shows there has been a disappointing increase in rates. Last year, daily smoking rates in South Australia for the general population over 15 years of age rose, from 12.9 per cent in 2016 to 14.3 per cent in 2017. The honourable member quite rightly highlights what has been a historical discrepancy in terms of country smoking rates and I can confirm that they have also risen from 17.2 per cent to 21.8 per cent.

In the context of country community health, the Marshall Liberal government has already taken action to deliver on its commitments to encourage healthier lifestyles through our Healthy Towns Challenge. The Healthy Towns Challenge delivers $1 million over four years to regional communities to develop and implement programs encouraging more holistic health. Importantly, among the suggested outcomes of the program is decreasing smoking rates. The Marshall Liberal government will continue to support such initiatives, as well as other mechanisms to reduce smoking rates as we work to support better health in the South Australian community.