Labor plans $63 million anti-tobacco campaign

Tom McIlroy
Apr 10, 2019
AFR
Fund managers will come under pressure to dump tobacco investments if Labor wins the federal election, part of a $63.4 million investment in driving down lung cancer.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King will announce what they call the most significant push to cut Australia’s smoking rates since the introduction of plain packaging on Wednesday, including $6 million over three years to support the Tobacco Free Portfolios campaign.
The group founded by radiation oncologist Bronwyn King lobbies banks, insurers and financial services firms to cease dealings with cigarette makers, part of efforts to freeze out tobacco from global lending, investment and insurance.
“Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Australia – and the leading cause of cancer in Australia,” Mr Shorten said.
‘Failed to invest’
“Australia has been a world leader in driving down smoking rates, but the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government have failed to invest in continuing this work and progress has slowed.”
Labor wants to see the proportion of daily smokers in Australia drop from 12.2 per cent to below 10 per cent, in part through a reintroduced national tobacco campaign.
Costing $40 million over four year, Labor believes the campaign could prevent as many as 55,000 deaths nationwide and deliver as much as $740 million in direct healthcare savings.
A Shorten government would also fund 20 new cancer nurses through a $15 million commitment to the Lung Foundation, and boost lung health awareness and early diagnoses through $2.4 million in advertising campaigns.
‘Cancer blitz’
Estimates suggest as many as 12,740 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in Australia in 2018.
The announcements are part of Mr Shorten’s $2.3 billion cancer treatment plan and come a day after Labor said it would spend $500 million on reducing public hospital waiting lists in a “cancer blitz”.
In one of the biggest boosts to Medicare since it was established, Labor plans to guarantee free or low-cost treatment for all cancer sufferers and the elimination of all out-of-pocket expenses for diagnostic imaging scans.
Another $433 million will fund free consultations with oncologists and surgeons and every cancer drug recommended by experts will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.