Issue Date:  -  Thursday, 19 March 1998

Smoking

Major tobacco company WD & HO Wills has finally admitted smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer and other diseases than non-smokers.

The company has agreed that people who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke are 30 per cent more likely to get lung cancer.

Labour Relations Minister Graham Kierath said it was the first time the tobacco industry in Australia had faced up to its responsibilities.

"Even though I am disappointed that they still have not accepted the evidence on the effects of passive smoking, the admission they have made is a breakthrough for Australia", the Minister said.

Occupational safety and health legislation, which bans smoking in all enclosed workplaces in Western Australia, will come into effect in August.

The legislation, which aims to limit the risks of passive smoking in workplaces, has met with strong opposition in some areas.

"However, I believe the weight of evidence on the risks of passive smoking justifies the implementation of the bans", Mr Kierath said.

"I aim to give WA the safest workplaces in the world by the year 2000, and the admission from WH & HO Wills shows we are heading in the right direction."

Mr Kierath said the Catering Institute of Australia claimed that smoking in restaurants and hotels posed a significant threat to the health of both staff and diners - and that the scientific evidence on the seriousness of passive smoking was overwhelming.