Vaping Reforms Bill - 15 May 2024
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, I'm supportive of any measures that will curb the insidious uptake of nicotine vaping by our young people. The rapid rise of vaping amongst young people is a huge issue in my community. It was one of the first issues that was raised with me when I was elected and it continues to be raised again and again by constituents. I've had more than 40 individual e-mails about kids and young adults vaping. All of them worried about the harmful long-term health effects of nicotine addiction. For so many years, Australia was a world leader in tobacco control. But with the increase in recreational vaping, it does feel like we've lost our way. So I commend the government for introducing this bill which prohibits the importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisement of non- therapeutic vapes and vaping goods. This is aimed at stopping the supply of non- therapeutic vapes and stamping out the illicit vaping black-market, it's not aimed to criminalise vape users but rather vape suppliers. Now, I note that this bill is the final stage of the Government's vaping reforms following a series of regulation changes intended to address the illicit vaping market and its harms on the Australian community. This house has spoken previously about the provision of medical use vapes as a tool to assist with nicotine dependency, this bill is not about prescription vapes which can be regulated and provided to patients in need. This is about non-prescription vapes that are being sold in an unregulated market. Now, the legality of non-prescription vapours in WA is actually different to the rest of the country. In WA, non-prescription vapes both those containing nicotine and those without have been a illegal since the 2016 court case that have been vapes breach the Tobacco Control Act which prohibits any products looks like a cigarette or a cigar. But despite this ban, vapes are still everywhere in Western Australia. Last year, I was contacted by distressed constituents about a vape shop that opened on Rokeby Road in Subiaco, 120m from Subiaco primary school. The shop was branded, outfitted and advertised as a selling vapes. Despite the fact that selling vapes is illegal. I'm pleased to say that along with other community voices, I draw attention to the vapour store and the Subiaco Council took action and it's no longer there. But this should not be allowed to happen. In WA, a single use vapes may be technically banned but the black market continues to publicly and blatantly exist and it appears that the biggest issue is a complete inability to enforce the prohibition. Which brings me to this Bill. I'm pleased that the additional measures in this legislation include creating structures to enable better enforcement through state and federal governments working together and also higher penalties relating to importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisements. This is great for WA. Cutting off imports at the border is essential to halting the supply of vapes reaching Australia. Allowing seizure and forfeiture of vaping products that have been commercially supplied or manufactured empowers state and territorial officials to carry out enforcement powers under the new reforms. Now having a coordinated approach between federal and state governments will be essential. It'll be a national vaping working group with senior members from state and territory health departments and police forces as well as the Australian Border Force, TGA and the AFP. So after this legislation is passed, in WA, it will now be up to the health and police departments to take an active and collaborative role to enforce the laws that we now have in place. I do have one concern about the bill - the bill aims to stop the supply of vapes by prohibiting commercial possession yet the term commercial possession is not defined and is expected to be defined in the regulations. Now, I am concerned that this definition could be too broad so that addicted individuals could be caught up in the new criminal charges. So, I do urge the government to clarify this definition to strike that balance between the need to crack down on vapes suppliers and desire to keep individuals out of the criminal justice system. We will hear a lot of noise on the tobacco lobby and related parties about why we should not ban vapes but tax them instead. And if you hear this message, I'd encourage you to follow the money. You will only hear these pro vaping message from those who stand to benefit from people vaping. Whether it's the tobacco companies or the political parties that receive donations. The National Party has taken nearly $400,000 from Philip Morris over the last decade and I'll be very interested to see how the National Party votes on this present legislation. The reality is that nicotine and vaping is damaging and addictive. An ANU research has shown in the long-term, non-smokers who vape our three time is likely to take up smoking than non-smokers who don't vape. And this is why the tobacco industry want to see vapes normalised, is their survival and expansion plan at the cost of our kids, they're trying to build a new generation of smokers. I'm pleased the government has committed to a public health awareness campaign and further funding for smoking cessation support services to complement the measures in this bill and ensure that they will be effective support for those who needed to help them quit nicotine products. I hear time and time again the growing community and expert concern, not about smokers transitioning down to vaping but about young non-smokers transitioning up to vaping and then on to smoking. In the words of the 23-year-old constituent, most of my friends vape and none of them were smokers before. I think that says it all. I've heard stories about how hard it is to quit vaping because you can do it anywhere even in class at school. I've heard of vapers switching to cigarettes to try to quit because at least it's less socially acceptable and have to go outside which forces them to do it less often. Like so many things, the success of this legislation or depend on state and federal Corporation and I implore the WA government and the federal government to work together to enforce these important new laws in the interest of our young people. Thank you.