Transcript of Interview with Steve Price – MTR Melbourne - Plain Packaging of Tobacco
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27 May 2011
Topics: Plain Packaging of Tobacco
Steve Price: The federal Opposition seems to make an art out of making itself the story when it doesn't need to.
Two issues rolling this morning. One, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott going at eat other's throats over leaked letters.
And the other issue - probably more important; certainly, more important - is this issue of whether the Opposition will back the new federal government plain packaging on cigarettes.
Now, I'm not quite sure what Tony Abbott's talking about here. He defends his time as Opposition Leader, or, I should say, defends his time as Health Minister in the Howard Government, when he upped the language on cigarette packets to make it more aggressive, to try and stop people from smoking. But he won't commit to the federal government's plain packaging changes, which are due to come in through a Bill through the parliament that's going to be debated shortly.
Here's the Health Minister being grilled this morning on the Today show, the Opposition Leader.
[Excerpt from Today]
Tony Abbott: Look Lisa, when I was the Health Minister, I slapped graphic health warnings all over cigarette packets. So please, Lisa, don't accuse me.
Lisa Wilkinson: You...
Tony Abbott: Please Lisa, let me have my piece.
Lisa Wilkinson: No, you were definitely strong as Health Minister.
Tony Abbott: Yeah, and...
Lisa Wilkinson: But now, in 2011, why don't you go that extra step and say no to any donations from the big tobacco companies?
Tony Abbott: Lisa, if people want to donate to the Liberal Party, they're welcome to. And I invite...
Lisa Wilkinson: But that doesn't fight cancer...
Tony Abbott: My go, Lisa.
Lisa Wilkinson: ... accepting money from them.
Tony Abbott: Please, my go. I mean, I invite people, who think the Liberal Party is worth supporting, to donate money to them. In fact, I'd like to use this program to say to people, please donate to the Liberal Party if you think we're doing a good job. But I tell you what, no-one buys influence with the Liberal Party.
Lisa Wilkinson: And I would take issue with you saying that they...
Tony Abbott: They have no influence over us.
Lisa Wilkinson: Well, the charter that British Tobacco have...
Tony Abbott: And they've wasted their money.
Lisa Wilkinson: Well, it clearly states, their...
Tony Abbott: They've wasted their money.
Lisa Wilkinson: Their charter clearly states...
Tony Abbott: They've wasted their money.
Lisa Wilkinson: ... that these political donations are given specifically to, quote, influence the debate on issues affecting the company.
Tony Abbott: And they've completely wasted their money.
Lisa Wilkinson: But you won't go that extra leg and...
Tony Abbott: Look at...
Lisa Wilkinson: ... support the government's plain packaging. Why is that?
Tony Abbott: Don't assume that. Please, Lisa, don't assume that. I haven't seen the legislation.
[End of excerpt]
Steve Price: That's Tony Abbott this morning.
He did tell Parliament this week, when he was talking about the rising cost of living for families, that taxes on cigarettes were hurting families.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon's on the line, good morning.
Nicola Roxon: Good morning.
Steve Price: How far off's the legislation?
Nicola Roxon: Well the legislation has been released, the exposure draft has been out for consultation for two months, I don't know why Mr Abbott hasn't seen it, it's right that it hasn't yet been introduced to the Parliament, and through this public discussion and exposure draft process, there might be some minor changes, but really I don't think Mr Abbott needs to know the sort of detail of what font size, or whether it's Arial or Times New Roman that the wording's going to be in, before he decides whether or not he supports this public health measure.
And I do think a very serious question has been raised because of this quite revealing information about the donations, I mean imagine the Australian Liberal Party, and National Party, being the receivers of 97 per cent of British American Tobacco donations last year, I mean they want something.
Now Mr Abbott can show us that they haven't bought any influence by supporting our measures, but if he doesn't, I think that question mark will remain.
Steve Price: I think all parties are compromised to a degree by political donations, but let's just stick with this one issue, did you find it odd when he spoke in Parliament about the cost of living, making the comment that the rising cost of living taxes on cigarettes were hurting families?
Nicola Roxon: Well, I do think Mr Abbott is all over the place on this, and his team is all over the place, I mean...
Steve Price: You would agree that he was pretty tough as Health Minister on this?
Nicola Roxon: Oh, absolutely, but what I think we're seeing is in the past, governments of all colours, Health Ministers of all political parties in Australia, have led the way on tobacco control, I absolutely expected we would be fighting big tobacco with this measure, I did not expect that we would be fighting Mr Abbott, because to me this is something that, having been a previous Health Minister, knowing that we've been able to lead the world and have quite low smoking rates, compared to the rest of the world as a result of that, that he would be on board. And the fact that he isn't, is what's raising this question mark.
Steve Price: It seems to me that they're arguing from the wrong position, I mean I think there's an argument about whether governments should be trashing brands, I think that's a reasonable argument, you wouldn't do this to Coca Cola, you wouldn't do it to VB, but you're doing it to cigarettes, I think that's an argument that they can have. I don't quite understand where they're coming from, I mean, do you think they're beholden, seriously, to big tobacco, do you?
Nicola Roxon: Well, I am concerned that they might be, and I'm concerned, having discovered British American Tobacco's policy, that they're only allowed to give money in order to win back...
Steve Price: But they were giving money when he was sticking cancerous eyes and lungs and words about smoking kills, on cigarette packets, weren't they?
Nicola Roxon: Well they're really trying very, very hard to do that...
Steve Price: But that's true, isn't it, they've been donating for 12 years?
Nicola Roxon: They've been donating for a long period of time, and the Labor Party made a decision in 2004 that we wouldn't take those donations, and I want to just go back to a point that you've raised about taking away brands, and why we would do it for tobacco, and not for other businesses, tobacco is a unique products, it's the only legal product in Australia that is so clearly proven to do no good, you know, there is no...
Steve Price: What about alcohol?
Nicola Roxon: Well, alcohol, there is a growing amount of evidence about what is a safe and not safe amount, there is no safe amount of tobacco that you can smoke, every single cigarette can take you closer to cancer, so that's been decades of research and work to clearly establish that...
Steve Price: But we're going alone in the world on this, aren't we?
Nicola Roxon: Well we are leading the world, I don't think we'll be going alone, we've received a lot of support from other countries that...
Steve Price: But no other country in the world has gone to plain packaging, have they?
Nicola Roxon: No other country has yet, but we've led the way on other measures too...
Steve Price: I'm not defending smokers, by the way, sorry, I'm not defending tobacco companies, I hate smoking, but they do seem to be copping an inordinate amount of regulation, given it's still a legal product.
Nicola Roxon: Well I think the truth is, if tobacco were coming onto the market for the first time today, and there was no history and no background, no government would make it a legal product, but it's not realistic when it is a legal product, to say that you can just ban it.
We're not planning to do that, but we do want to take away any angle for marketing your product.
And when you think about a packet of tobacco, it's about the only thing that people take in and our of their pocket 20 times a day, it's on their desk, it's on their table, it's at the bus stop, it is an advertising tool, and we want to be able to...
Steve Price: So what do you expect Tony Abbott to do?
Nicola Roxon: Well I want Tony Abbott to back us on this.
I think he can make clear that his history as the Health Minister can be followed by a proud history as Leader of the Opposition. But at the moment he isn't doing that.
He looks like he's compromised by these donations, and I reckon it's time for him to get on board.
Steve Price: Good on you, thanks for your time.
Nicola Roxon: Thank you.
Steve Price: Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon.
Ends
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