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Non Smokers' Update |
Contact: Send a message to the NSMA
Web page: www.nsma.org.au
NSMA MEMBERS DEMONSTRATE AT SYDNEY RAILWAY STATION
On World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2001, our long
suffering members attacked the NSW State Rail Authority
(SRA) for its continued refusal to put no smoking
signs on platforms and start enforcing the laws which have
been on the books for years but are just ignored.
This has been the cause of many confrontations with smokers
right throughout the greater metropolitan railway
network. The photo shows President of NSMA, Brian McBride,
leading a protest march along the platforms
at Sydney's Central Railway Station. This is a typical
above ground station with extensive covered areas that are
non-smoking zones but do not have any signs. The Railway Offences
Regulation states that a person must not
smoke on any train, or any enclosed or otherwise covered area on SRA
property. The penalty is a $100 fine. Our members
handed out leaflets printed with $100 fine notices for anyone
found smoking. This message was forcefully delivered
from loud hailers to many surprised commuters.
"We are protesting that the station manager does not enforce the no smoking laws because he knows the Minister does not want any confrontation with his own smoking staff. Any day of the week you can see the staff smoking under covered areas where it is prohibited. What hope is there of stopping passengers from smoking when the staff are openly smoking?"
NSMA Members demand smoke free platforms and enforcement of bans
ATTACK ON PLATFORM SMOKERS
We had made it clear in our media releases that we
planned to physically remove any smokers found on the
platform areas as we inspected them. This caused the
Station Manager to go into panic mode and he repeatedly
played the recorded message over the public address
system. "Passengers are reminded that smoking is not
permitted on platforms at this station". As we moved
off to tour the platforms they played the message
constantly in the vain hope that we would not find any
smokers. We would have found a lot more without that
message which is rarely heard on Central railway although
they do run it regularly on the underground stations. We
noticed smokers up ahead rapidly putting out their
cigarettes as we approached. However there was one
determined smoker who stood his ground and provided
what the media wanted, some confrontation. He said to
them defiantly, "I pay my bloody taxes and I'm entitled
to smoke and even though I have emphysema, you
can't stop me". Our members surrounded him and said
this is not about your health; it is ours we are trying to
protect. As for your taxes, they won't even cover your
Medicare costs! The media crowded around him with
microphones to catch his every defiant word.
Defiant smoker tells the media he has rights
Call to Action
His smoking continued while the three security guards
who had followed us every inch of the way just stood by
and watched him smoking. Suddenly the loud hailer was
turned in their direction with a question "Don't they pay
you guys to stop smoking on these platforms, isn't that
part of your job?" Looking startled, they galvanised into
action and headed through the crowd to get to the smoker.
He saw them coming and to his great good fortune a train
pulled in right at that moment so he threw his cigarette
down and jumped on board and was gone in a flash. The
security staff made no attempt to chase him. They stayed
behind with the real problem, which of course, was us.
No adequate signage
We continued our tour of six platforms and pounded out
the message that it is disgraceful that after so many years
of complaints we still can't get them to put up adequate
signage to inform the public. The Station Manager blames
other departments saying they can't agree on the design or
placement of signs that will not spoil the ambience and
environment. Of course smoking does not affect anything
like that! We all know that as soon as you challenge a
smoker he or she immediately tries to justify their smoking
by saying "but where are the signs? Show me the signs!"
Telling the media we want laws enforced
No Staff Authority
One of the really frustrating problems is that some staff tell
us they often see the laws broken but are powerless to
enforce them because the Revenue Protection Officers
(RPAs) are the only staff empowered to issue the $100
fines. Of course these RPAs have a primary job to catch
fare evaders and spend their time travelling to different
locations. They are like gypsies and you can never find one
when you want one. The ones we spoke to regarded
smoking as very much a secondary duty. In any case they
said their instructions were always to "warn" and never
prosecute on the first offence. What a joke! How do you
identify repeat offenders if you don't take details and look
serious about enforcing the law? Regular smokers just
keep accepting their warnings and they know full well they
will never be fined.
Minister's Hypocrisy
The Minister is guilty of gross hypocrisy by replying to
our written complaints with straight out window dressing.
He points out that the laws are in place and he says all staff
have been instructed to enforce them, but he knows they
do not. It is the most blatant game of passive resistance
ever played by a government Minister. He hopes that we
will just get tired and go away, but we won't. This is the
first real challenge in enforcing outdoor smoking bans. If it
can't be achieved on railway stations we might as well all
give up, put the lights out and close the doors.
Siege Of Station Master's Office
In order to get right down to the operational level of the
problem we completed our loud-hailing tour of the
platforms by assembling outside the office of Station
Manager, Mr John Tsiros. We demanded that he come out
and address this typical group of fare paying passengers
about why he was not enforcing smoking bans. We used
the loud hailer to tell the curious crowds that the Minister
keeps telling us that staff like Mr Tsiros do their jobs
properly but we have just proved that they don't do
anything about enforcing smoking laws. Rather than deal
with our allegations Mr Tsiros bolted his office doors and
called for the police to remove us. He already had three
burly Chubb security officers standing outside his door but
these were apparently considered useless to help him. We
lined up outside the office and announced to the world that
we would not leave until he did speak to us. However, Mr
Tsiros would not come out of his bunker. Finally two
police officers arrived and tried to get us to come through
the ticket barriers into their public domain. However we
foiled them by refusing to leave the area inside the barriers
and still on SRA territory. Mr Tsiros bravely came out at
this point and went into a huddle with the police and the
Chubb security officers.
"We can see trouble makers like you but smokers are invisible"
Too much Discretion by Police
The police then came through to our side of the ticket
barrier and officiously demanded to see our tickets. We all
produced tickets. Then our members told the police how
useless they, the transit police, and the Chubb security
staff are on the subject of no smoking laws. They all try to
ignore them but we are here to demand real enforcement.
They admitted they don't always fine smokers because
they have discretion not to enforce some breaches and they
said there are more important matters to deal with. We
insisted smokers should be fined every single time just like
they fine a speeding motorist every single time. The police
even challenged that argument and said they still use their
discretion such as if you were speeding while driving your
pregnant wife to hospital. (OK we will make allowances
for pregnant smokers on platforms- but what about the
others?)
We Demand To Hear From Station Manager
We made it clear we would continue our peaceful protest
until Mr Tsiros came out and gave us some answers. The
police decided to take no action against us and they just
stood by. Mr Tsiros then made another appearance to say
that he would talk to one of us in his office. He said he
could not come out to address us, as he was not authorised
to make statements to the media. Since there were media
present he was not able to talk to us outside his office. We
then asked him to talk to each person one at a time since
they were all entitled to answers. He refused to do this so
Brian McBride and Jonathan Bevan were finally elected to
end the stand-off by going into his office to put our
complaints to him.
BS From The Station Master
When confronted with our basic complaint that he was not
doing his job, Mr John Tsiros had the effrontery to say it
was a "very difficult challenge for him" to enforce the no
smoking laws because he did not control all the staff
involved. He said he had no control over the crucial
Revenue Protection Officers (RPAs). Brian and Jonathan
did not let him get away with this rubbish and gave him
facts and figures of previous complaints logged in the
complaints book in his very office. He has had plenty of
time to get the necessary control and what had he done
about fixing those problems? What had he done about
responding to the complaints under the SRA's guarantee of
service, which they used to justify the latest fare increases?
Also, we quoted the Minister's replies saying it is all under
control and there really was "no problem". This proves
the Minister did not support John Tsiros saying it was a
"very difficult problem" and they were all struggling
with it.
Put It In Writing
Finally fed up with evasive replies Brian and John sought
an agreement that we would detail our complaints in
writing directly to him and then he would reply in writing
to state his position. He agreed to do this. There was much
emphasis that this was now our agreement to get his
written reply confirming all the difficulties he was
struggling with. Subsequently he was given our letter of
complaint on 6 June 2001. It is now 31 July and there has
been no reply from him. So much for John Tsiros'
promises!
WE MUST SACK THIS STATION MANAGER.
Our next demonstration will start from where the last one
finished off. We will surround John Tsiros's office and
demand that he resign for his incompetence or for lying to
us that he would reply to our list of complaints. We just
have to get down to this nasty personal level of getting
staff sacked because we have used up every other form of
approach. We have tried letters to Ministers (many over 24
years of writing), personal representations to our local
MPs, demonstrations outside Parliament, demonstrations
on railway stations, putting up our own signs and getting
arrested. We are running out of options. The City Rail
Administration is just determined to get away with not
acting decisively against smokers as long as they possibly
can. If we don't get a breakthrough on this we can go one
step further next time. We will try lying on the tracks to
stop peak hour trains and then perhaps Minister Carl
Scully and his brain-dead administration will start to take
us more seriously.
NSMA Members demand Station Master tell why he is not doing his job
GOOD MEDIA COVERAGE
We succeeded in getting wide radio and some printed
media coverage of our major point that existing bans were
not being enforced and it is time things got serious. Media
monitors showed at least 32 news or interview items
reporting our intentions to physically remove smokers
found in banned areas on platforms if the authorities
refused to act. We received good accurate reporting on
ABC radio where Brian McBride did several interviews on
different programs over several days. Ninety percent of the
radio coverage and talkback comments supported our
actions. Unfortunately we did not get any TV coverage
although Channel Seven had a camera at the event.
Commentators Should Declare Pecuniary Interests
There was a degree of negative reporting, notably from
Terry Willessee on 2GB in Sydney. He accused us of
going over the top and depriving people of the right to
choose. In short, all the drivel we usually hear from demi-
gods like John Laws and Allan Jones. Jones referred to us
as "gestapo" and Miranda Divine called us "nicotine
nazis". This reminds us that the Australian Broadcasting
Authority (ABA) have not actioned our complaint that
there should be a register of pecuniary interests to prevent
these people commenting on the tobacco issue unless they
could show they did not have a couple of million dollars
invested to tobacco shares or related interests. After the
"cash for comments" fiasco they are now forced to reveal
their sponsors. But what is the difference in motivation
between having an active declared sponsor or having an
undeclared passive $2 million dollar investment in the
company's product? With ABA it is a bit like beating your
head against a brick wall, but we will try to get back on to
it again soon
Action Point 1. Write to the Hon Carl Scully, Minister for Transport, Parliament House, Macquarie St. Sydney 2000, and demand that all staff be empowered to enforce no smoking laws on all railway stations.
FIRST NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL
CONFERENCE
This conference was held in the Adelaide Hilton Hotel for
three days from Tuesday 12 June to Thursday 14 June
2001. It was attended by over 180 delegates from most of
the anti smoking organisations in Australia. President
Brian McBride attended for NSMA and took the
opportunity to meet up with many contacts that are
normally just voices on the phone or contacts on the email
network.
Minister Opens Conference.
The Hon. Dean Brown, Minister for Human Services,
welcomed all the interstate visitors and indicated how
pleased he was with the smooth introduction of smoking
bans in restaurants that took effect in South Australia on 1
January 1999. He said that after two years there have been
no significant problems. Patronage has not declined and
everyone is very happy with the cleaner, healthier
conditions for dining out. He indicated that South
Australia would bring in further controls on smoking in
hotels and clubs next year. He endorsed the purpose of the
conference, which was to establish a vision for the future
of tobacco control in Australia.
Historical Review
The first speaker was Dr David Hill from the Anti Cancer
Council of Victoria (ACCV) who set the scene by
reviewing developments starting with the first shots at the
tobacco industry way back in 1938. He struck a chord on
vested interests that still resonates to the present day as he
described the media's strange reluctance to give any
credibility to health warnings on smoking while they
continued to make a fortune from tobacco advertising. The
classic Doll report was published in 1958 and things
started to stir in Australia with the 1960's reports from the
National Health and Medical research Council (NHMRC).
Cigarette Ads Every Twelve Minutes On TV
In 1964 the monumental work by the US Surgeon General
was released. It was conservative and cautious in many
respects but even so it was totally damming of the industry
and urged strong controls. In 1967 the ACCV did a study
of cigarette advertising in Victoria where the most "in your
Face" type of ads were saturating our TV screens with an
ad every 12 minutes. Their fight against this advertising
started with counter-commercials featuring Alf Garnett
and other well known names of that era. These old anti
smoking messages were shown at the conference and it
brought a nostalgic and frustrating feeling to us old
campaigners. To think we are still trying to get that same
message across. Its like that old truism - you can lead a
horse to water but you can't make it drink! We still give
our young people the freedom to be stupid and many of
them do it with relish!
Non Smokers' Movement Given Some Credit
NSMA was not invited to speak at the conference but we
were very pleased to be acknowledged at the last plenary
session on Thursday 14 June. The Federal Health Minister,
Dr Michael Wooldridge, and the World Health
Organisation (WHO) representative, Mr Douglass
Bettcher, made a joint presentation of an award to Mr
Stephen Woodward, former CEO of ASH Australia. Dr
Wooldridge spoke with conviction about the damage the
industry has done over the years. He referred to a real
change in the political climate in recent times. He said that
he would now receive majority support in cabinet for
tougher action against tobacco but even five years ago that
was not possible. He spoke of meeting Stephen many years
ago and commended his dedication in keeping pressure on
both sides of politics to do more about the tobacco
problem. The award was the "WHO commemorative
Medal for contribution to tobacco control". The Medal
was presented to Stephen by Mr. Bettcher, with thanks on
behalf of the World Health Organisation for his
outstanding advocacy and contribution to reducing the
ravages of the tobacco industry in Australia.
Di Rayson of NT Health congratulates Stephen Woodward on his award
Good Work By The Amateurs!
In his acceptance speech, Stephen reminded the audience
that some of the really great work in tobacco control in
Australia had been done by the amateurs rather than by the
health professionals. He thanked Brian McBride, Arthur
Chesterfield-Evans, Marge White, the late Sue Meeuwissen
and others for their early pioneering work against the
inroads of the tobacco industry. He went on to talk about
the great support he received from the Heart Foundations
and Cancer Councils and the many individuals who had
helped him, firstly in Melbourne and then in Sydney. He
particularly mentioned the great work by barrister Neil
Francey on the landmark AFCO passive smoking case. He
thanked Neil for going beyond the call of duty on many
occasions to help ASH reach their objectives.
Conference Web Site
The full details and resolutions from this National
Conference can be seen for a limited time on
www.conference.cancersa.org.au. One important
resolution reads: "Australia should be moving towards an
end game in which companies no longer profit from
tobacco. The continued existence of a profit making
industry is entirely inconsistent with the achievement of
public health goals and respect for the law".
OUTDOOR SMOKING BANS
Since the last UPDATE 35 there have been some heated
email exchanges between colleagues in the field about the
wisdom of pursuing outdoor smoking bans. These issues
are very important in terms of what the Non Smokers'
Movement future objectives should be, so I will give
readers an outline of the debate but without naming names.
We don't want to establish a 'them and us' divide, but we
must decide the merits of arguments to point the way
ahead.
Activist A made statements to the media that we must pursue bans on smoking at all outdoor sporting venues such as tennis courts, Council owned football fields, streets and even parks and beaches. He said we should go all out for bans on street smoking in the same way that we demand bans on open air railway stations. It is a policy of "zero tolerance" to any level of exposure to passive smoking in public areas. Smoking is a private vice and should be restricted to private property such as the smoker's own homes. He said such a policy is justified both on the scientific grounds that there is no safe level of exposure to ETS, and also on the nuisance argument that it is personally offensive and deprives non smokers of their fundamental rights to clean air. There is also the strong argument of removing bad example from the eyes of children.
Too Intolerant
Activist B criticised the zero tolerance policy and said he
would not support it because it made the whole anti-smoking
lobby look too extreme and unreasonable. He
attacked the scientific basis as not really defensible as
there is more carcinogenic risk from burnt toast,
overcooked meat, car emissions, mobile phones or power
lines etc., compared to a single whiff of cigarette smoke
walking down the street. He attacked the personal nuisance
argument as reflecting a level of intolerance that he would
not want to be associated with. He said this is an extreme
position untethered to evidence or reasonable standards of
curtailing liberty that would attract the charge of
prohibitionism. That is, stopping people from doing what
they want to do, even when there is no demonstrable harm
to others.
Encourage All Public Benefits
Activist C came in to strongly defend A's position and
said that the image of social acceptability of smoking is
just what the industry wants to promote. If activists can
gain ground pushing a zero tolerance argument, in spite of
the initial public odium it will probably attract, then they
should be encouraged not discouraged. Activist D then
joined in with an opinion that if outdoor bans can be
pursued on the basis of "nuisance", because smoking
causes irritation to many people (eyes sinus etc.) and not
on the basis of potentially lethal consequences, then it
should be encouraged. Also there are other important
public benefits such as reducing litter, reducing social
acceptability, increasing incentives for smokers to quit etc.
The above is not a full treatment of these complex issues and does not represent the full arguments of the parties concerned. We would welcome members writing in with their views to help guide future policies.
Overseas Attacks on Outdoor Smoking
A local Council in Maryland USA has won a milestone
legal battle to prove it does have the authority to make
smoke free laws for parks, sidewalks and any other
common property area. It now joins at least 75
governmental agencies that have instituted smoke free
outdoor sites under their authority. If you can make people
clean up after their pets foul up public areas what is so
extreme about regulating smokers?
MARLENE SHARP SAYS THANK YOU
All letters of congratulations on that great passive smoking
court victory, which were sent in by our members have
been forwarded on to Marlene Sharp. After that other great
news on 12 June that WorkCover were not going to appeal
the verdict, Marlene went on a well-earned holiday to
recover her strength after the stress of it all, including the
media attention. She has now returned and on 14 July she
sent NSMA a thank you for our support. We were one of
the first agencies that Marlene's solicitors contacted for
supporting evidence and information over three years ago.
We also attended the closing stages of her seven weeks
case to give her some moral support.
No One Should Have To Lose Their Health
While we are pleased that this has been a great step
forward for non-smokers' rights, we are equally saddened
that any individual had to lose their health in order to
prove the iniquity of enforced passive smoking. The
question still is: why do people have to prove health
damage to get any attention to the problem? The answer,
as always, is that our political masters are afraid to lead on
politically sensitive issues. They only want to follow when
the courts point to the bodies and say, you really must do
something to stop this! Even now John Della Bosca and
Bob Carr are seeking ways to justify not banning smoking
totally in clubs and pubs. They put commercial interests
first and non-smokers' health and rights to clean air last.
THREE CLUBS GO SMOKE FREE TOGETHER
We were delighted to hear that the Moama Bowling Club,
the Rich River Golf Club and the local RSL Club have co-
operated to go totally smoke free from 1 October 2001.
These clubs are located on the NSW - Victorian border
and it is a great example of progressive managements
planning to meet the inevitable bans to come at some
future time. By acting now they show they have genuine
concern for eliminating health risks to their loyal
employees who have suffered less than ideal working
environments for many years. NSMA has sent
congratulations to them and commended the sensible
approach of all going together, rather than one local club
holding out to gain a commercial advantage over the other
during the initial period. Of course, many clubs are now
looking carefully at their membership profiles and they
realise that the majority of people are non-smokers and
they would patronise clubs more often if it were not for the
disincentive of cigarette smoke pollution.
Other Clubs Go Smoke-free
There was great publicity when the first NSW club went
smoke-free in June 2001. This was the Mosman Rowing
Club. One of our members in the area immediately
congratulated the club and asked for a joining form
because the smoke pollution was the thing which kept her
out of all clubs until now. Other clubs announcing
intentions to go smoke-free include Nambour golf club,
and Maroochydore Bowling Club. There will soon be
many more I'm sure.
PASSIVE SMOKERS ARE IN DANGER
Another damming report on the dangers of passive
smoking has been issued by Japanese researchers at Osaka
University. They have used ultrasound to study the
coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) in the cells which
line the heart's cavities and blood vessels. They compared
the effects of passive smoking on otherwise healthy young
smokers with non-smokers. They found that 30 minutes of
passive smoking abruptly reduced the flow or CFVR in
non-smokers but did not affect the already lower CFVR in
smokers. In fact, passive smoking brought the CFVR
levels in non-smokers down to those in smokers. A review
in the July 2001 Journal of the American Medical
Association says the study provides direct evidence of the
harmful effect of passive smoking on the coronary
circulation in non-smokers.
Comment: We should not have to prove it is going to kill us before we are entitled to breathe clean air in public places. However this kind of evidence means we should step up from a level of reasonable requests for clean air to unashamedly demanding clean air in all public places. We must leave our politicians in no doubt about our determination to get it even if it means voting them out of office.
Action Point 2. Write to your local MPs (Federal & state) and ask whether they support our calls for a complete ban on smoking in public areas starting with sporting fields and extending to streets, parks and beaches. Press them to define their positions clearly. Send copies of replies to our office.
NSMA REPRESENTATIVE IN SA
This conference in Adelaide provided a chance to talk over
issues with local supporters. The photo shows Brian
McBride meeting with Steve Patroni who has done great
work with lobbying over the years. He has been
particularly dedicated and very successful in getting letters
to the press published on anti smoking issues.
Steve Petroni discusses NSMA action in SA
HEALTHY CLUB DINING BY 6 SEPTEMBER 2001
This is the great day in NSW when the twelve months
"exemption" period for smoke free dining in clubs and
pubs comes to an end. All dining rooms must be fully
segregated and ventilated separately from any smoking
areas by that date. The NSW Smoke Free Environment
Bill came into force on 6 September 2000 but it gave clubs
and pubs a special exemption for their dining areas for
twelve months. We suspect that many clubs and pubs will
rely on a slack bureaucracy not enforcing the new rules
with any great efficiency so they will be slow to comply.
We urge members to ask their club directors or hotel
managers in advance, what they are doing to comply. If
there is no sign of building modifications in place they
should let it be known that they will force inspection and
closure or fines as soon as that great day arrives. Have no
mercy on these people. They have been given plenty of
time and plenty of warning. If they still don't care about
your health you should not hesitate to report them to the
NSW Department of Health on 02 9391 9111 . When you
make such complaints you should ask to be notified of the
outcome or if necessary, follow up yourself a few weeks
later. There is no use winning these progressive new laws
if we do not insist on rigid enforcement. No more excuses,
we have had enough already.
Action Point 3. Inspect your local clubs and hotels for signs that they will comply with segregated smoke free dining areas by 6 September 2001. If in doubt, complain to the NSW Tobacco Control unit within the NSW Dept. of health on 02 9391 9111.
VENTILATION IS NOT THE ANSWER
The tobacco lobby are still trying to convince hotel owners
that bigger and better ventilation systems can obviate the
need to ban smoking. They are doing this both in USA and
Australia. However former USA Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) scientist, James Repace, has done all the
technical studies and confirmed his conclusions in a report
published in June 2000. He says; It is clear that dilution
ventilation, air cleaning, or displacement ventilation
technology cannot reduce ETS risk to de minimis levels
for workers or patrons in hospitality venues without
massively impractical increases in ventilation. Smoking
bans remain the only viable control measure to ensure
that workers and patrons are protected from the toxic
wastes of tobacco combustion.
SMOKE DRIFT FROM ALFRESCO CAFE DINING
This problem has been reported in previous UPDATES but
the good news is that it is also supposed to be fixed by the
same 6 September deadline. Section 10 of the above
legislation had the same twelve months delay clause by
which time restaurant and cafe owners are to be held
responsible to ensure that no smoke drifts from smoking to
non-smoking areas where food is consumed. This means
you can ring the same numbers (above) and report alfresco
dining arrangements that don't effectively keep the smoke
out of the indoor areas.
DISGRACEFUL LEVEL OF FUNDING
Never let a day go by without telling your family and
friends two of the most disgusting facts that condemns all
of us for our failure to change them more rapidly.
ONE. The appalling fact that 250 million children alive today will die of cigarette smoking caused disease. (WHO Report)
TWO. Our Federal Government spends less than 1% of the vast $8.2 BILLION revenue it receives from tobacco excise on anti smoking campaigns. That shows a total cynicism about the public health of succeeding generations.
Action Point 4. Write to Santa Claus and ask him to give John Howard a heart for Christmas. Ask him to advise you how many of these children are Australians and whether he cares about doing something for them
GOVERNMENT PIMPS
Radio 2SM Sydney compare, Howard Sattler, was
absolutely correct when he said that the Government
leeches off smokers like a pimp off prostitutes earnings.
He said that the Government should put more resources
into helping people quit smoking.
P.S. We know NSMA will never see a dollar of Government funding but at least a well-funded network of public health agencies could double their results if their funding was doubled.
SYMPATHY FOR JOHN FAHEY?
There is a certain irony in ex State Premier & Federal
Finance Minister, John Fahey, losing a lung to cancer
caused by his years of heavy smoking. This is a man who
had the power to apply real money to the anti smoking
fight but chose not to do so. While we must sympathise
with all victims of tobacco we should have more concern
for the future children that John Fahey could have saved
from the same fate. There will be many of our children and
grandchildren who will suffer lung cancer because John
Fahey and his myopic mates in Canberra did not do the
right thing. They not only had the opportunity, but actually
had the responsibility to properly fund anti smoking
campaigns but failed to do so. I hope John writes on the
Census form that he would like his family record
preserved in the 100-year time capsule that is proposed.
His government's role and his personal fate will be a
subject for significant analysis and head shaking when the
history of the tobacco scourge is reviewed in the year
2101.
BUTT LITTER EVERYWHERE
New ashtrays outside Adelaide buildings
We will continue our attack on Sydney City Council for failing to get serious with littering fines for those ignorant smokers who throw their butts down without a second though. Some might go as far as stubbing it out on the top of the street rubbish bins thus turning them into a disgusting and repulsive sight for other users. Members have reported some moves in eastern Sydney suburbs to provide special astray bins near bus stops. Also the photo shows the new type of ashtrays being mounted outside city buildings in Adelaide. Our representative in Adelaide, Steve Patroni, tells us that he frequently finds little fires smouldering away because people put paper into them as well. These moves are not the answer. We must campaign to get cigarette manufacturers to provide a suitable disposal compartment as part of the packet. There should then be fines of $500 for any smoker disposing of the butt any way except in the correct container, which must also be put into land-fill and not allowed to enter the waterways.
Adelaide posters aimed at getting parents to quit
EXPENSIVE BUT WRONG ADVICE FROM WORKCOVER
The NSW Government spends $189 million each year to
maintain a large network of offices throughout the state.
Depending on which local office you ring you may get
different advice on the same complaint. (Shades of the Tax
Office!). We complained to the Minister that workers were
being fobbed off with complaints about workplace
smoking due to ill-informed or inexperienced officers.
They were being told "there is no specific legislation to
ban workplace smoking, it is covered by different parts of
several Acts, - it is a difficult problem etc. etc.," They
gave workers the feeling it was all too hard to do and they
did not proceed with action. Mr Ian Macdonald, MLC,
Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister for Industrial
Relations, has now replied on behalf of the Minister the
Hon. John Della Bosca. He denies there is any problem
and states:
"WorkCover NSW has developed an unequivocal policy regarding passive smoking in the workplace. When a complaint is received a letter is sent to the employer which outlines their responsibility under the Occupational Health & Safety Act 1983. It requests them to supply WorkCover with evidence of how they meet these responsibilities and a copy of the guidelines on passive smoking in the workplace is provided. Where the documentation received is unsatisfactory an Inspector will then visit the workplace and provide additional information to enable them to meet their obligations. Where the employer is not prepared to co-operate the Inspector will issue an Improvement Notice which formally directs them to comply with the legislation. Where they do not comply the Inspector may then issue an Infringement Notice (On the spot fine). WorkCover has received 77 complaints about workplace smoking since June 2000. All of these have been actioned in accordance with these procedures."
GAOLS ALL LOCKED UP TOO !
We also complained about exposure to ETS on behalf of a
Warder who is constantly exposed but is afraid to openly
fight the issue because of smoking superiors etc. A
detailed statement of complaint was put to WorkCover but
received a one paragraph reply from Mr. Macdonald:
"In respect to your enquiry about passive smoking in gaols, I can advise that these facilities are subject to the provisions of the OHS Act. WorkCover NSW will respond to complaints about ETS exposure in NSW gaols by taking action in accordance with the policy I have described."
So have no fears, whatever side of the wall you are on WorkCover will protect you from tobacco smoke. It's all under control; there is really no great problem. Yes Minister!
THERE IS NO RIGHT TO SMOKE
Last Update No. 35 we reproduced part of this article from
ASH USA Review Feb. 2001, and now continued in this
edition of Update No. 36. It said only a handful of
activities have been held to be "fundamental rights" that
are constitutionally protected and which the government is
therefore limited in regulating. These are not activities like
smoking but rather very private things like contraception,
procreation, child rearing etc. Any other activity can be
regulated provided the government has a "rational basis"
for such action. Such rational basis is any logical reason,
whether or not a court agrees with a policy or the
evidence behind it. For banning smoking, even outdoors,
these reasons include:
* Protecting the public from exposure to a known
cancer-causing chemical, especially since science
does not believe there is any safe lower level
below which ETS does not cause cancer.
* Protecting the health of those sensitive to tobacco
smoke, even in small amounts on public
sidewalks, etc.
* Because breathing even small amounts of smoke
is irritating and annoying.
* To reduce a major form of sidewalk litter:
cigarette butts.
* To avoid influencing young children; the same
reason used to prohibit public drinking of alcoholic
beverages.
The USA courts have consistently held that the act of
smoking a cigarette does not rise to the level of a
fundamental right. This principle has been applied to an
ever-increasing list of state and local laws banning
smoking in a great variety of places ranging from
restaurants to sidewalks, parks and beaches. The laws are
by no means confined to indoor situations.
GOOD ON YOU TERRI
The last Update reported a "good on you Elaine" story
where she threw a cigarette butt back into the car when the
driver threw it out while stopped at traffic lights. Now our
Canberra member Terri, name withheld to protect from
police retaliation, has gone one better. She writes to tell us
that she threw a butt into a police car when the officer
discarded it onto the roadway. He threw it out again and
she threw it back in a second time, and it stayed there. You
definitely get our award of the month for that one Terri.
We need more members like you and I do hope you will
come up to Sydney for our next round with the City Rail
Mafia.
We could do with more of your kind of dedication.
DEAD SMOKERS DRAW NO PENSIONS
Philip Morris has carried out a study and told the Czech
Government that it is good economics to encourage more
people to smoke and die earlier to save on pensions. They
calculated that the early death of smokers saved the
government about $60 million in health care, pensions and
housing during 1999. The report has generated outrage
around the world and Philip Morris has gone into
overdrive in damage control. They said, so convincingly,
that they regret any impression that the premature death of
smokers represents a benefit to society. As someone said,
the interesting thing about the tobacco industry is that its
reputation is already so bloody; it takes a lot for people to
be shocked. I wonder if we could get Nick Greiner to carry
out a similar study on the statistics in Australia so John
Howard could use it as part of his economic platform for
the next election.
We can't let the government down
Do It For Your Country
Following the above news item one radio station ran a
comedy message from the government to smokers which
said: "If you still smoke after all we have told you. you
are obviously an idiot and we would be better off without
you. Please take it up again - do it for your country -
because we are stopping all Quit programs immediately".
SMOKING BREAKS TOO COSTLY
"Those cigarette breaks are expensive" says Dr Andrew
Penman, CEO of The Cancer Council NSW.
Cumulatively they add up to about a half-day every week
per smoker. Over a year that equates to four weeks - the
same as the annual leave entitlement. As an example
Australia's largest employer is Coles Myer. With close to
170,000 employees they can expect that 83 workers will
die in the coming year; they can anticipate 28 medical
retirements and there will be $34.5 million off the bottom
line that the shareholders won't see. Millions of dollars are
literally going up in smoke.
Editor's Note: As reported previously our members are trying to get a motion debated at their AGM that Coles Myer discontinue being a willing agent for death and disease by selling cigarettes knowingly and recklessly leading to expensive future litigation against them. If you are a shareholder please contact us.
NO MORAL SCRUPLES WITH CHOP CHOP
The head of the Victorian Tobacco Retailers Association was
found guilty of selling "chop chop" and fined $12,000 plus
costs. This was the guy who said "everyone was doing it"
and sold chop chop by mail order to 2 Tassie kids, and was
unwittingly photographed by a newspaper in his shop with
his feet on a bag of the stuff.
LATEST STATISTICS ON DRUG USE
In June 2001 the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare (AIHW - Canberra) released a report titled
"Statistics on Drug Use in Australia". It is a
comprehensive report but here are just a few items of
interest. Australians are consuming less alcohol and
smoking fewer cigarettes than they were 10 years ago, but
there has been an increase in the use of marijuana.
Marijuana use in the past 12 months was considerably
higher in Australia (18%) than in England and the USA
(9%), Spain (8%), Canada (7%) and the Netherlands (5%).
Nearly half of all Australians aged 14 years and over have
used illicit substances at least once in their lives, while
23% report having used an illicit drug in the last year.
$8.2 Billion Blood Money
On average each adult Australian spent $559 on tobacco in
1998-99, with total government revenue being in excess of
$8.2 billion. Per capita expenditure on alcohol on 1998-99
was $1,062. According to co-author of the report, Megan
Miller, most Australians do not approve of either the
regular use or the legalisation of illicit drugs, although
approximately one-quarter think regular use of marijuana
is acceptable. Other findings include: The number of
hospital admissions attributable to drug use increased from
179,000 in 1995-96 to 200,000 in 1997-98. Smoking was
the leading cause of drug-related hospital admissions
(142,525). More than 19,000 deaths in 1998-99 were
attributable to tobacco and just over 1,000 deaths were
related to illicit drug use. One-third of Australian
smokers unsuccessfully tried to quit smoking in 1998.
Editor's Note: The alarming rise and approval rating of Marijuana shows that we must not give up until we have won the right to totally clean "drug-free air" in all public venues regardless of the merits or otherwise of the drug's effects on the users.
ADELAIDE MEN GET SERIOUS
On world No Tobacco day a radio caller, Doug, says his
daughter was a heavy smoker and her husband said he
wouldn't have sex with her if she didn't quit. He says this
helped her quit. I suppose this is a new twist on that old
slogan, "Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray". We
need more of these campaigns telling women how
disgustingly unfeminine they are with a fag in their mouth,
not to mention the way they stink.
HELP FOR HOSPITALITY WORKERS
Brian Daley from the Liquor and Hospitality Union has
been on radio confirming that they are applying more
pressure on pubs and clubs to go smoke free. The Union
has set up a passive smoking register for hospitality
workers and is encouraging them to keep a note of health
problems they have because of passive smoking at work.
These employers will be fools to continue to line
themselves up for other successful damages cases like Port
Kembla RSL Club worker, Marlene Sharp. The club
directors are obliged to act in the best interests of members
and if they don't they should be voted out at the next
AGM.
HEALTH MINISTER CONFIRMS $13 BILLION
On 1 June 2001 Ray Hadley on radio 2UE asked Michael
Wooldridge about figures that it costs $13 billion a year to
treat smoking related illnesses. Hadley says some listeners
queried the numbers yesterday. The Minister says the
figures are absolutely true and that the country would be
better off without tax from tobacco ($8.2 billion). The
Minister defends the new series of graphic TV ads
showing diseased organs does have an impact in reducing
smoking.
WHO CALLS FOR TOTAL BANS ON PUBLIC SMOKING
The United Nations has marked World No Tobacco Day
by calling for a global ban on all smoking in public places.
There were some anti-tobacco protests across India to
mark the day.
ZYBAN BLOWOUT
There has been a $800M blow out in the cost of the
pharmaceutical benefits scheme, following the
introduction of new drugs to treat arthritis and smoking
addictions.
AGM AND CELEBRATION DINNER
The tentative date for our Annual General meeting will be
Wednesday 28 November 2001. We will invite Marlene
Sharp to be our honoured guest so we can thank her
personally for her great contribution to the cause. The
venue will be a restaurant in central Sydney with costs
about $50 per person. Full details will be included with the
next Update due out at end October 2001. So mark it in
your diary now and make a special effort to attend. Your
attendance is one way to show the Committee your
appreciation of their efforts during the year.
AUSTRALIAN CIGARETTES WITH WATERED DOWN WARNINGS
Cigarettes being manufactured in Australia are being
exported overseas with much smaller health warnings than
are required under Australian law. WHO scientist in
Australia, Mr Harley Stanton, says while tobacco
companies are not breaking international laws on health
warnings, he believes they are behaving irresponsibly, as
they have a duty of care to provide the most
comprehensive warnings possible. Harley gave a very
enlightening address to the National tobacco Conference in
Adelaide on this subject.
SMOKING IN IDLE BUSES
Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans MLC has confirmed that he
has taken up the issue of amending the regulations to close
this loophole. Let us hope he has more luck with the
Minister than we have had.
GET WELL SOON JANET
We are sad to report that Janet Hudson, one of our regular
helpers, has been in and out of hospital over the last few
months and is not at all well. Janet is one of our most
reliable helpers with mailing out this Newsletter so we
hope she makes a full recovery very soon.
SHOP SHOULD BE PROSECUTED
Illegal shop sign advertising cigarettes
NSMA investigated reports from a parent about a shop in Mowbray Road, Lane Cove which puts a very subtle portable sign out on the roadway as shown in the photograph. The mother said her child going to the public school directly opposite the shop was subjected to this cigarette advertising every day and she objected to it. We assured her it was illegal and we have complained to the authorities with photos and first hand evidence. We have offered to be witnesses so that prosecution could proceed. We are annoyed that they are trying to fob us off by suggesting that issuing a warning is sufficient. NSMA will not accept this and we won't rest until the owner is prosecuted.
DONATIONS - THANK YOU
Please accept this as a general thank you to all those
members who included some level of donation in addition
to their renewal of subscriptions during the last twelve
months. To acknowledge them individually would add to
the administrative load that we are already struggling to
cope with. We are sure you know that your generosity is a
great help in keeping the organisation afloat. The recent
successes with smokefree restaurants will cause some
members to think they have done enough. However it is
vitally important to keep the momentum going
PLEASE KEEP THOSE DONATIONS COMING IN AND WE WILL KEEP DOING THE JOB THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
NIGHTCLUBS ARE BASTIONS OF SMOKING
Apart from the fact that these venues encourage young
people to smoke they are now co-operating with tobacco
companies by putting in VIP rooms. These are special
promotions rooms used for getting young people to attend
functions where cigarette girls do their bit introducing
them to cigarettes. The tobacco companies pay the
nightclubs to set up these rooms, which feature walls and
ceilings painted in the same colour as Benson & Hedges
packets that amounts to a form of subliminal advertising.
The tobacco companies pay the clubs to install cigarette
vending machines and then they pay something like $3000
for the clubs to put on entertainment that will attract a
young audience.
SMOKING IN FLATS AND UNITS
To those new members having this problem please be
patient with our lack of progress. We fully intend to get on
with this project in the near future. Meanwhile we ask all
members who know of anyone suffering this problem of
smoke invasion from neighbours to get in contact with us.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
The new bans on smoking in restaurants came into force in
Victoria on 1 July 2001. Early reports show there have
been no problems and all is going smoothly. Further action
is due later this year in Queensland and Northern Territory.
Over the sea in New Zealand things are just moving very
slowly. The Smokefree Environments Bill has gone to
another committee for refinement. At present it proposes
that all new licensed premises must comply with smoking
bans from 2002. However all existing premises will have
until 2007 to comply unless the Bill is further amended.
The Non-Smokers' Update is the quarterly newsletter published for members of the Non-Smokers' Movement of Australia Inc.. Contributions or comments should be forwarded to the editor, Brian McBride, at the address shown on the front cover.
LEAVE A BEQUEST TO NSMA IN YOUR WILL. MANY PEOPLE LEAVE MONEY TO AGENCIES WHICH ALREADY RECEIVE GOVERNMENT PLUS SUBSTANTIAL CHARITY FUNDS. OUR ACTIVE ANTI SMOKING WORK HAS NEVER RECEIVED ONE DOLLAR OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND WE RELY ENTIRELY ON THE GENEROSITY OF MEMBERS. YOU CAN ENSURE THAT THE GOOD FRONTLINE WORK WILL CONTINUE BY REMEMBERING NSMA IN YOUR WILL.
Please contact us if you need assistance with bequest procedures.
The Non Smokers' Movement of Australia - 2001-2007.