A national coalition of
child welfare, health, medical, church, social equity and research
organisations has expressed strong concern at reported comments by
Opposition frontbencher Tony Abbott that legislation to protect
children from tobacco smoke in cars is “trivial”.
The
40-member Protecting Children From Tobacco (PCFT) coalition* is
seeking clarification and reassurance of support for child health
protection from Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal and
National Parties - after Mr Abbott reportedly told a Sydney University
audience that the NSW Government was playing “nanny state
politics” by mandating smokefree cars carrying children.
Says
PCFT co-ordinator Stafford Sanders: “This is a measure supported by
very good, independent worldwide health research evidence.
“It’s
known that children are exposed in cars to levels of tobacco smoke
exposure much higher than levels known to cause serious health harm.
“Children
are especially vulnerable to health harm from secondhand smoke.
Teenagers exposed to tobacco smoke in cars can double their risk of
asthma attacks.
“Does
Mr Abbott see these as ‘trivial’ consequences?
“All
our organisations, and the community, deserve clarification from Mr
Turnbull and from the Liberal/National Parties as to how they view
this matter.
“We’d
hoped such attitudes were long gone from mainstream politics and that
we could all get on with the business of taking shared social
responsibility for protecting our children from harm – as we’ve
done with child welfare laws for many years.”
Legislation
mandating that cars carrying children must be smokefree is now in
effect in
South Australia
,
Tasmania
and NSW, and is before parliaments in
Victoria
,
Western Australia
and
Queensland
and under review in the ACT.
Comment
/ media info:
Stafford Sanders, co-ordinator
ph. (02) 9334-1823; m.
0412-070-194
* Protecting Children from Tobacco coalition:
full
list of aims and endorsing organisations at
www.ashaust.org.au/lv4/ProtectChildrenEndorsements.htm
|
