Right to puff in public places goes up in smoke
SMOKING will be banned in outdoor areas including bus stops, taxi ranks, playgrounds, public sports grounds, swimming pools and public entries to buildings under reforms the state government is to introduce within months.
The Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, said yesterday an election promise to the clubs industry prevented bans being implemented in outdoor commercial dining areas until 2015.
The statewide measure will apply four metres from any building to which the public has access - but not to private homes.
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"The statewide measure will apply four metres from any building to which the public has access - but not to private homes". Photo: Tamara Dean
Beaches are not included in the reforms but the government supports smoke-free policies introduced by some councils.
Local health districts will be able to introduce bylaws to impose penalties for smoking on hospital grounds.
In October 2010 the Coalition signed a memorandum of understanding with Clubs NSW, which says a NSW Liberal and National government would ''uphold existing smoking restrictions including those relating to the service and consumption of food, beverage and gaming in outdoor areas''.
Mrs Skinner said the government would honour the agreement until 2015 when smoking would be banned in outdoor dining areas.
Simon Chapman, a professor and director of research at the University of Sydney school of public health, said the memorandum was not legally binding.
''If the government wanted to show a bit of leadership and get a bit of respect they would say things have changed,'' he said.
''I smell the odour of club industry political donations influence.
''We know smoking bans have had zero impact on the restaurant trade. People just accommodate them and would walk to somewhere like the car park to smoke.''
Professor Chapman said he supported smoking bans in confined outdoor areas such as stadiums but did not agree with them in wide-open spaces such as parks, streets and beaches - apart from crowded areas between the flags.
''Bus shelters and taxi ranks can get very crowded, so I support that,'' he said.
The head of the NSW Cancer Council, Andrew Penman, welcomed the smoking bans and said he was ''pragmatic'' about the government's decision to delay their introduction in outdoor dining areas.
''The history of tobacco control has been a history of compromise,'' Dr Penman said.
Mrs Skinner said smoking-related illness caused more than 5000 deaths and 44,000 hospital admissions each year in NSW and cost $8 billion.
"The distress and cost that smoking inflicts on families, and the burden this imposes on NSW's health system is simply not acceptable," she said.
The strategy would target Aboriginal communities and people with mental health problems, which had high rates of smoking, she said.
The opposition spokesman on health, Andrew McDonald, welcomed the bans as ''good policy''.
The NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the government's ''sweetheart deal'' with the clubs industry ''was a triumph of electoral politics over sensible tobacco control measures''.
A spokesman for Clubs NSW said its members were ''broadly supportive of the new smoking laws, just as they were with the indoor smoking bans when they were introduced five years ago''.
''The MOU sought an assurance for the first term only of the government so that clubs would have sufficient time to finance any renovations required … should a ban be introduced,'' he said.
''Clubs NSW will be urging the government to take a commonsense approach to the details of the law so that in dedicated smoking areas club members can still chew gum or eat potato chips''.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
