The Federal Government’s top adviser on preventative health, Dr Rob Moodie, says increasing the tax on tobacco would be a very effective way to curb smoking.
The Government is set to reap $2 billion in extra revenue after it increased the tax on the sweet, ready-mixed alcoholic drinks which it says are responsible for a significant rise in binge drinking, particularly amongst young Australian women.
Dr Moodie, chairman of the National Preventative Health Task Force and professor of global health at Melbourne University’s Nossal Institute, says it is time to act as there has been little movement in the price of cigarettes in the past decade.
"One of the major successes, I guess, in Australia’s battle with tobacco over the last 10 to 20 years has been an increase in price - gradual - but it hasn’t increased over the last 10 years," he said.
"It’s now time we did increase the cost of cigarettes, [which are] after all, the major killer in Australia.
"We know that if for example we added an extra 2.5 cents to every cigarette stick, that would across the board drop consumption by nearly 3 per cent.
"It’s a major contribution to public health."
Dr Moodie says that increasing tax on cigarettes could be instituted relatively rapidly.
But a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health questioned the effectiveness of price increases to cut consumption, and raised concerns about the burden placed on poorer smokers.
Dr Moodie says funding for quit smoking programs would address these concerns.
"Certainly the work that Quit Victoria have been doing on this, still shows that there is a very close relationship between price and consumption," Dr Moodie said.
He says money raised by this increased tax, suggested at the recent 2020 summit, should go towards a national preventative health agency.
