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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1540 ..

Mrs Carnell: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am very happy to have been elevated somewhat; but Mr Berry might be misleading this house, certainly with regard to my financial position but, most importantly, because the tobacco industry has never approached me and, I suspect, has never approached Mr Moore either.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Hird): Chief Minister, there is no point of order.

MR BERRY: The Government has done nothing in the intervening period. Indeed, they made it quite clear to the people of the ACT that, once this period had expired, that was it, all bets were off. They said, "We are giving you a one-off chance and plenty of time - something like two years and nine months - to get your house in order". They said this to the whole of the industry to make sure that licensed clubs and licensed pubs were all fully aware that this was the last time.

People came to the front doorstep of the Government and said, "We are hurting. The sky is going to fall down". It does not fall down when it happens to restaurants and it was not going to when it happened to them; but straightaway Mrs Carnell and Michael Moore weakened and said, "It is the tobacco industry and the AHA. We will back off. But be warned that 21/2 years hence you are done. You will have to do it". Two-and-a-half years hence they came up with the same tired old arguments, and what did the Government say? They said, "We will give you another year-and-a-half". This is from the Health Minister who cannot find enough money for her health system. From the report that I referred to earlier, she knows that the full cost of tobacco-related illness in the ACT is about as much as the health budget. This legislation has been developed against a background of pressure from the tobacco industry - there is no question about that - and it is a matter of great shame that the Government and Mr Moore have folded in front of this pressure.

The earlier attempts at legislation to extend this were quite discriminatory. It was intended at first that this should apply only to a small group of hotels and taverns with a small floor area, and it became very clear that the rest of the industry did not matter. It was only small taverns that the Government was interested in. The AHA have had their way. This amendment was at first intended to apply only in respect of pubs and taverns. That was highly discriminatory, but it tells you a little bit about where the pressure is coming from. Other people who intended to observe the law had spent the money to put the machinery in to make sure they complied with the law. I make no apologies that Labor opposed this legislation in the first place because of its frailties. Mrs Carnell admitted the other day, when introducing this legislation, that the air-handling system will not work. She said that it does not work; that it cannot be guaranteed to prevent smoke-related illness. It cannot prevent it. Every informed person knows that.

Legislation was considerably weakened by Mr Moore and Mrs Carnell to make sure that ventilation standards allowed people to smoke. That was to please the hotel industry. That certainly was in their submission to the inquiry, which incidentally did not result in a unanimous report. It was well contested. The law was weakened and it is going to be weakened again. Later on the legislation took a different form. It was to apply to clubs and pubs, as I understand it. That is fine. (Extension of time granted)

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