The revelation comes a week after the government used the health argument to attack the opposition for accepting political donations from tobacco companies.

The tender - worth about $400,000 a year for three years - is for the supply of tobacco products for inmates within the prison system through prison canteens. The tender closes on Wednesday.

Opposition corrections spokeswoman Vanessa Goodwin said that the contract proved the push by Labor to ban tobacco company donations was all about politics, not public health.

``If the government was really morally opposed to cigarettes, it'd be banning them for sale instead of putting out a $1.2 million tender calling for people to supply them,'' Mrs Goodwin said.

Last week Attorney General Brian Wightman revealed the government would introduce legislation this year to ban political donations from tobacco companies.

He did so after criticising the Liberals for accepting $38,000 from cigarette companies last year.

According to the government's prison tobacco tender, about 66,000 cigarette packets will be sold to inmates over the next three years - enough for almost every prisoner to have a packet a week.

A Department of Justice spokesman said that the government was committed to reducing smoking in prisons, and that strategies were in place to address the issue.

These included a smoking cessation program for prisoners and staff, as well as the availability of nicotine replacement therapy patches for prisoners.

``No prison in the world has successfully and safely implemented a smoke-free prison without developing a strategy and undertaking appropriate planning and preparation,'' the spokesman said.

``The Tasmanian Prison System needs to ensure that supply meets procurement standards.''

Mrs Goodwin said that she would support prisoners having access to health programs aimed at helping them to quit smoking, but added that such programs need to be optional while cigarettes are a legal product.