Philip Morris Dirty Tricks in Australia (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

The Age (Australia) 
                                                                            

                        Inquiry call on tobacco giant's plan

                        By FERGUS SHIEL

                        The Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria yesterday
called for a
                        federal inquiry into the tobacco industry after
revelations that the
                        tobacco giant Philip Morris had tried to derail
Australia's
                        anti-smoking lobby. 

                        Further pressure on the industry came with
confirmation that the
                        federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge,
was
                        demanding that it disclose its research on the
harmful effects of
                        smoking by the end of July. 

                        The minister is demanding to know when the
companies became
                        aware of the harmful effects of smoking and what
they did to
                        immediately alert the relevant public health
authorities to them. 
                        He has also sought the release of information on
all cigarette
                        additives. 

                        Documents posted on the Internet as part of a
legal settlement in
                        the US have revealed that Philip Morris had set
aside $100,000
                        a month in 1992 to counter Australian campaigns
pointing out
                        the health risks of smoking. 

                        They show that the company wanted to thwart one of
the
                        world's "best organised, best financed, most
politically savvy" 
                        anti-smoking lobbies through pressure on
Anti-Cancer Council
                        members and political networking. 

                        A spokeswoman for Philip Morris yesterday defended
its legal
                        right to monitor its operating environment and to
seek to present
                        its view to politicians and the media. "Our
opponents do exactly
                        the same thing." 

                        Inquiries were a matter for the Government, and
the company
                        had cooperated with all previous ones, she said. 

                        The Anti-Cancer Council's director, Professor
Robert Burton,
                        said the battle lines in the tobacco war were
clearer than ever
                        after the exposure of Philip Morris's strategy. 

                        "The fact of the matter is this is an industry
marketing a lethal
                        product for dollars. In other words, they

                        are marketing death, disease and despair to
Australians," he
                        said. 

                        "It is the number one preventable cause of disease
in Australia
                        and governments have been tiptoeing around it for
years. I think
                        a national inquiry is now needed." 

                        A spokesman for Dr Wooldridge said the minister
had written to
                        the nation's three cigarette manufacturers asking
them to disclose
                        information about their product and its effects by
31 July. 

                        He declined to reveal the reasons behind the
letters. "I would not
                        want to flag what we may choose to do in the event
that the
                        information is provided or is not provided." 

                        The Australian Medical Association's Victorian
president, Dr
                        Gerald Segal, said Philip Morris almost certainly
had a 1998
                        plan similar to its 1992 one, but he did not
expect ever to see it. 

                        Dr Segal said he would prefer to see the price of
cigarettes
                        immediately doubled, smoking banned in enclosed
public places
                        and an end to Grand Prix tobacco advertising than
massive
                        financial settlements like those reached by
several US states with
                        international tobacco giants. 

                        "The politicians are going to have to be dragged
screaming to the
                        table to put in legislation, because the cigarette
companies have
                        got to them quite obviously," he said. 

                        A spokeswoman for Victoria's Health Minister, Mr
Rob
                        Knowles, said he had no plans to outlaw public
smoking, but
                        believed workplace safety laws were reducing it
already. 

                        Carlton Football Club's president, Mr John
Elliott, apologised
                        yesterday for smoking on Channel 9's The Footy
Show,
                        according to the club's sponsor VicHealth. Mr
Elliott said he had
                        not intended to actively promote smoking,
VicHealth said. It
                        said his smoking on the show had breached its
sponsorship
                        agreement.