Media release – Kristie Johnston MP, Independent Member for Clark. 12 September 2023
Vaping or Evaporating?
In Parliament today I pressed the Premier to take more immediate and concrete action on the vaping scourge sweeping through our schools, and ruining the lives of our children.
The Premier was big on talk but lamentably low on action.
He isn’t even using the tools he has available to him. The Federal Government has $737 million dollars on the table to protect Australians from tobacco and e-cigarettes, but no indication from the Premier that Tasmania has taken its share of this money.
The Premier boldly stated that he wants Tasmania to ‘lead the nation’ on vaping control, to be a ‘step ahead’ of the other states.
Big talk with little action.
The text of my question follows:
Premier in March, when you were Health Minister, you supported my motion recognising the harmful impacts of vaping and committing your government to a national approach whereby the supply of e-cigarettes without a prescription would be unlawful, regardless of whether or not they contain nicotine.
The Federal Minister, Mark Butler, has been very clear on his position and included in the federal budget some $737m to fund a number of measures to protect Australians against the harm caused by tobacco and vaping products.
As I understand it, your Government over a number of years has cut the number of enforcement officers who can issue infringements to retailers who unlawfully supply smoking products, including e-cigarettes, to minors and there have been no prosecutions.
This is hardly taking strong action on the use and sale of e-cigarettes.
Premier, the use of e-cigarettes by young people in particular is getting worse.
What really matters is how you act and the Federal Government have put the money on the table. Premier what practical steps is your government going to take to stop the significant harm to the health of Tasmanians caused by e-cigarette use?
