Media release:
November 16, 2005
An
ACT lung disease sufferer has made a last-minute appeal to the ACT Assembly not
to pass a regulation which would continue to bar her from smoky pubs and clubs.
Retired
hospital CEO Anne Cahill Lambert says
a regulation to be debated tomorrow (November 17) would ensure it remained
unsafe for her to go to pubs or clubs, by allowing areas almost 75% enclosed to
continue to allow smoking even beyond the end of 2006.
“With
these areas adjacent to and opening directly into venues, it will mean lots of
smoke continuing to float around inside, and even more around entrances. That
means all kinds of people with disabilities – heart disease, asthma, fibrosis,
diabetes and more – won’t be able to work in or patronise these places
because it’s just too dangerous.
“It’s
out-and-out discrimination – and frankly, it stinks.”
The
non-smoking Ms Cahill Lambert was a keen club-goer until three years ago, when
she developed a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis which now requires her to wear
oxygen tanks.
“I
had to stop going to my local football club because of the smoke,” she says,
“and I often look inside some of the ACT’s very nice clubs and think how
enjoyable it would be to go inside and socialise with my family and friends –
but I can’t.”
Ms
Cahill Lambert is one of an estimated two million Australians with disabilities
affected by smoke who are denied employment and access by smoky venues – in
contravention of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act. The Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has stated in a legal case that a smoky
room is as much a barrier to a respiratory sufferer as is a flight of steps to a
person in a wheelchair.
The
ACT Greens have moved to disallow the regulation. The SmokeFree Australia
coalition of health and employee groups has called on the ACT government to
withdraw it and instead move towards similar laws to those of Queensland –
where from July next year, remaining smoking areas must be genuinely outdoor,
separate and unserviced.
“The
ACT used to be a trendsetter in public health,” laments Anne Cahill Lambert.
“It’s sad to see we’ve fallen so far behind states like Queensland,
Tasmania and WA on this issue.
“Even
on the business side, it seems very short-sighted – surely any short-term
hiccup in smoker-gambler revenue will be more than taken up by the new custom
they’ll attract once people realise how much healthier and more pleasant these
venues will become when the smoking is sent right outside.”
Comment:
Anne Cahill Lambert
m. 0400-127-211
Comment, media info:
Stafford Sanders, SmokeFree Australia
ph. (02) 9334-1823 m.
0412-070-194
SmokeFree Australia coalition
for clean safe workplaces:
Liquor,
Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union; Musicians’ Union of Australia; Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; Australian Council of
Trade Unions; Action on Smoking and Health Australia; The Cancer Council
Australia; National Heart Foundation of Australia; Australian Council on Smoking
and Health; Non-Smokers’ Movement of Australia; Australian Medical
Association; Asthma and Allergy Research Institute.