By JONATHON HOWARD
QUEENSLAND Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has backed calls to ban smoking in certain public places.
The minister stopped short of recommending a ban on all public places, but he did urge councils to use their powers and boot smokers from pedestrian-shared zones and public transport waiting points.
He said Queensland councils had been slow to exercise their powers and he did not want to see them sit on a “sleeper power”.
“I would just say to other councils that you do have the power, please move to do it,” he said.
“When you have an existing power, it should not be a sleeper power, it should be used.
“Councils can do it, we’ve encouraged them to do it … other councils should actually just do it.”
Mr Springborg highlighted an example set by the Brisbane City Council and said the banning of smoking in certain areas had transformed the city for the better.
His views came after the Parliamentary Health and Community Services Committee recently recommended the state review look at how local governments had used the powers to ban smoking at outdoor pedestrian malls and public transport waiting points.
“If current regulation by local government is deemed inadequate to protect the public from harm, consider introducing a statewide smoking ban at public transport waiting points and outdoor pedestrian malls,” the committee further recommended, along with a suggestion that other public areas, such as TAFE colleges, be considered.
Mr Springborg said he was extremely “anti-smoking” and would consider the proposal.
“I’m very happy to consider this in the future – very, very open to that,” he said.
“I’m as anti-smoking as you can get.”
Cancer Council Queensland spokeswoman Katie Clift said the parliamentary committee’s recommendation was a positive step.
“Smoke-free spaces will protect people from the harmful effects of smoking, encourage more smokers to quit, and prevent more young people from taking up this lethal habit,” she said.
