United front to combat smoking in Australia

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

United front to combat smoking
by MARK RAGG
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 10/4/99

Sixty-five health organisations will tomorrow seek a Federal Court ruling
to establish a $500-million-a-year fund to prevent and reduce smoking.

The groups, including the Australian Medical Association, the National
Health Foundation and the NSW Cancer Council, will ask Justice Murray
Wilcox to order Australia's three tobacco companies to "establish a fund
which the court thinks appropriate to prevent or reduce loss or damage
likely to be suffered".

The groups, which have formed the Tobacco Control Coalition for this case,
allege that Philip Morris, WD&HO Wills and Rothmans have engaged in
misleading and deceptive conduct, and seek declarations and injunctions
against such behaviour.

The coalition alleges the tobacco companies have known the health effects
of smoking for more than 30 years, as shown by more than 35,000 internal
industry documents released in the United States over the past few years,
and that the companies failed to inform the public of the dangers.

None of the companies could be contacted for comment yesterday. However,
they have defended vigorously all previous litigation.

The coalition's convener, Dr Andrew Penman, who is also chief executive of
the NSW Cancer Council, said yesterday that $500 million a year sounded
like a "gee whiz" figure.

"But I'd be surprised if we weren't spending half a billion dollars a year
on illicit drugs, if you look at all aspects of it. And smoking is a
problem which is much more widespread," he said.

If established, the fund should be administered by a third party
independent of government and the tobacco industry, he said.

It would fund education campaigns, research, regulation and enforcement
programs, addiction services to help child and adult smokers quit and, as
smoking rates dropped, industry restructure.

The coalition says it is acting on behalf of all Australian citizens and
residents who have not yet had any symptoms of smoking related disease,
nor had a diagnosis of such disease.

It argues that about 1.25 million Australians who now smoke will die
prematurely, an average of 4.7 years early, because of their habit. It
says the Federal Government receives more than $4 billion in tobacco taxes
annually, but the combined expenditure of all Australian governments on
anti-smoking campaigns and education comes to less than $10 million.

Justice Wilcox is also set to hear a class action against the same tobacco
companies by people whose smoking-related illness was diagnosed between
April 16, 1996 and April 16 this year. Solicitors Slater and Gordon say
they have 2,500 such people on their books.

Dr Penman said the coalition's action would depend, to a fair extent, on
the findings of fact in that case. It was even open to Justice Wilcox to
marry the two cases, he said.

While the two lawsuits appear complementary, tensions between the two
litigants exist. Slater and Gordon has told the coalition its suit will
delay the class action, while the coalition says it is acting for all
present and future smokers, not only those who illnesses appeared in a
three-year window.