HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-15 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

TOBACCO PRODUCTS REGULATION (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clauses 1 to 3 passed.

New clause 3A.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: I move:

Page 2, after line 10—Insert:

3A—Amendment of section 30—Sale of tobacco products by retail

Section 30—after subsection (4) insert:

(5) A person must not sell a tobacco product by retail if the order for the tobacco product was placed by mail, telephone, facsimile transmission or internet or other electronic communication.

Members will note that this is basically the same content as was in a bill that passed this chamber last night. I am smart enough to know that that bill, which I hope has been picked up this morning in the House of Assembly, will face defeat because the government has the numbers there, so I have taken the identical content and moved it as an amendment to this bill, knowing that there is a better chance that it will survive that process between the houses.

For the record, the amendment deals with the issue of being able to order your tobacco products over the internet and then have them home delivered. As I commented and repeated last night, it is very easy for young people to lodge an order via the internet and then, with a few other grocery products, have that delivered at home and say when it turns up, 'Here's the money. Sorry, mum and dad are not here.' It is a very easy way for minors to get hold of tobacco products.

I remind the minister of some of the statements she made when she introduced this bill. One particular statement was:

One key factor that influences the uptake of smoking is ready access to tobacco products.

So, the minister recognises how important it is to stop that ready access, and this amendment will assist the minister and the government in that particular aim.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: The government does not support this amendment, although I acknowledge the worthy intentions of the Hon. Sandra Kanck. However, we cannot support this amendment. The government believes the issue should be dealt with at a national level, and I can advise that work is being done through the Ministerial Council on Drugs Strategy to regulate the sale of tobacco over the internet, so that work has already commenced.

The government would like to see an option explored in all jurisdictions in Australia to work collaboratively towards restricting the sale of tobacco products over the internet and banning sales to people under the age of 18 years, for example, by requiring them to provide proof of age at the time of receiving goods and tightening up that end of it.

Internet sales occur through web sites located anywhere in the world, making this an extremely difficult area to regulate. This amendment offers only a very short-sighted and limited solution to what is quite a complex issue and largely an Australian government responsibility. Further consideration needs to be given to how this amendment would affect people with disabilities, for instance, and country people.

Those people with disabilities who physically are not able to go to retail outlets, as well as people in rural and remote locations in South Australia, would be disadvantaged by such a regulation. People in rural and remote locations are often required to place a bulk order of goods, which includes cigarettes, by phone, email or fax at their supermarket. The station then sends out its own truck to the supermarket to collect the bulk order or, if there is a road train travelling in that direction, another option is that the order may be put on that truck and dropped at the station on the way. It is for these reasons that the government cannot support this amendment.

I acknowledge the worthy intentions behind the reasons for this, but I urge members to think carefully about it as it will have only a limited impact on these sort of sales, given that internet sales are predominantly nationally and internationally based. As it stands, this regulation could quite easily disadvantage some sectors of our community.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I indicated previously that the Liberal Party supports these amendments. To briefly address some of the issues, there is a split in commonwealth/state jurisdictional issues over this area. As the minister stated, some of these sites are overseas, such as cheapsmokes.com, and I believe the ACCC has initiated some sort of action in an attempt to bring them to heel.

The Hon. Sandra Kanck sent me a link to a local grocery website, one that I have used myself (but not for cigarettes), Banana Blue. I am sure that it is a reputable firm. I followed the instructions given by the Hon. Sandra Kanck on how you would in theory purchase a packet of cigarettes, and it goes through a series of different prompts and comes up with a box giving the standard health warning.

The state jurisdiction relates to point of sale. We have now in this state gone through the process of changing point of sale displays for retail outlets, and it is specified as one square metre plus an A4 gory sign and, if you have the four metre displays, you have the larger sign. There is no comparison and it makes a mockery of point of sale display issues because the online services do not need to obtain them at all.

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan: They are still on the packets.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: That is fine, except they can get their packet jackets, because nothing is happening about that, either. The Hon. Sandra Kanck made the point very well about young people's take-up of technology and their ability to flout the laws. For retail outlets, there are hefty fines and it is a huge anomaly not to take action in this area.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: It is interesting to consider that this bill has been introduced by the Minister for Substance Abuse, which in itself tells us that we are dealing with a drug. We know it is a highly addictive drug—a very dangerous drug, with thousands of people dying from its use every year. I find it a little strange to have the minister arguing that it would be unfair for people in remote areas and with disabilities if they have some delay in getting their supply of this particular drug.

If there is any validity in the argument that we need to ensure supply of that drug, we need to consider that the internet is only a relatively recent innovation and for many decades people who did not have access to the internet were able to get it when they made their weekly trip into the nearest town, or for people with disability to get somebody else to buy it for them. It seems strange to have the Minister for Substance Abuse arguing that as a reason for this not to be supported.

I know it has limited application, but I am also very wary of waiting for something to be done nationally. As I said last night, when I introduced a bill in 1996 to require the advertising of genetically modified products I was told that we needed to take national action and 11 years later we are still waiting. It is not a good enough reason for us not to take action.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The Hon. Sandra Kanck has jogged my memory. In relation to the defence of using a national approach, that is precisely what happened with the display advertising around Australia. The state government delayed—

The Hon. Sandra Kanck: How many years?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I do not know. There was an announcement that we were going to have greater control of retail displays, then it was going to be a national approach and, finally, South Australia had to do it on its own; and I think that deserves a wooden spoon in terms of reform.

New clause inserted.

Remaining clauses (4 to 6) and title passed.

Bill reported with amendment.

Third Reading

Bill read a third time and passed.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT