Cigarettes will Kill You: The High Court of Australia and the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products

Matthew Rimmer

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationGeneral Article

Abstract

Tobacco, says the World Health Organization (WHO), is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer. With a view to discouraging smoking and giving effect to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Australian Parliament passed the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (Cth), in November of that year. The legislation was supported by all the major political parties. Labor Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, argued, Plain packaging means that the glamour is gone from smoking and cigarettes are now exposed for what they are: killer products that destroy thousands of Australian families. The leader of the Coalition Opposition, Tony Abbott, acknowledged, This is an important health measure. Its important to get smoking rates down further. The Greens also supported the measure, and called for the Future Fund (an independently-managed fund into which the Australian government deposits its budget surplus to meet future superannuation liabilities) to end its tobacco investments.
Original languageEnglish
Pages1-5pp
No.February 2013
Specialist publicationWIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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