Greens Health spokesperson Rosalie Woodruff has described the government’s decision not to change the legal smoking age as “shocking news”.
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Ms Woodruff suggested Health Minister Michael Ferguson “should resign” if he could not present a “real plan” to tackle the issue of smoking in Tasmania.
“He’s got rid of the only strong plank in the preventative health strategy,” she said.
“It was the only strong commitment that he’s made to reduce chronic disease rates in this state.”
According to Mr Ferguson, the government would “directly challenge” the state’s high smoking rates through its five year Healthy Tasmania Strategic Plan, to be released on Saturday.
However raising the legal smoking age to 21 or 25, as suggested earlier this year, has not been included in plan.
“When we launched the consultation draft, we floated the concept of changing the legal minimum smoking age,” Mr Ferguson said.
“We’ve never actually committed to a particular proposal but I think it was important to inject some bold thinking into the debate, we’ve had the debate, government has listened and we will be taking further some strong measures on smoking.”
Mr Ferguson said in making the decision, the government had “competing priorities” such as wanting to reduce the uptake of smoking among young people.
We are going to do preventative health in Tasmania quite different to how it’s been done before.
- Michael Ferguson, Health Minister
“It will change lives, as we assist Tasmanians to be more aware of their own health and be motivated to take steps to be healthier.”
Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White said a commitment to action on preventative health was critical.
“Mr Ferguson has abandoned any attempt to introduce meaningful measures to help ensure our future generation are healthy,” Ms White said.
“He has thrown our major hospitals into crisis and now has shown Tasmanians he is clueless in regard to taking action on preventative health.”
The Tasmanian Small Business Council supported the government’s decision with CEO Robert Mallett claiming the proposal to increase the smoking age would have been “impossible to implement”.
“It would have created confusion among tourists to Tasmania, may have adversely affected the numbers of Asian students choosing to study in Tasmania and created security concerns for small businesses in rural and remote regions,” Mr Mallett said.
Mr Mallett said ongoing education campaigns, particular targeting young Tasmanians, would achieve the best outcomes for the state.
Melissa Mobbs
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
