i am a heavy smoker and i think the increase is a good thing. with all that extra cash going into medical, then they may find a cure for cancer by the time i get it no but seriously, its a filthy habbit and one i wish i had never taken up, so if it makes cigs just that little bit more unattainable for kids, then its a really good thing. but what we have to worry about now is what other civil liberties will they take away next? alcohol also kills loads of people directly and indirectly, so are they gonna start taxing the crap out of that too until no one drinks anymore? the one thingi do miss is smoking in a pub. its a real firkken shame that you cant have a pint and chainsmoke. there will never be anything quite as nice as a smoky old english pub.
I don't smoke, but both of my parents do. The tax increase won't mean **** for them - they are quite well off and won't even notice it. Even if smokes doubled in price they wouldn't even blink. It is simply a smokescreen by the government to detract from their bad news week. If they were really serious they would tax the hell out of fast food, since obesity related illness is now the leading preventable issue in this country. But nah, can't affect too much of the voter base could we?
bahahahaha your a pisser . i smoke and it doesnt matter what they do i will always smoke because its my choice and i want to and because i love the taste. i really couldn't care what the government do to our packing and i couldn't care what they want to charge there are heaps of creative ways to source tobacco.
ITT: smokers having a cry get over it, i dont give a **** how expensive or what color the package is, because i DONT SMOKE, besides you think its a 'tax grab'? the total ammount of tax dollars that come from smoking does not even come close to the total cost to the health system looking after people with illnesses related to smoking
Doesnt it? Got figures to back it up? Surely to make such a statement you have solid evidence of this. This is a tax grab, no matter which way you look at it. If the government were serious about fixing the problem they would ban smoking. Smoking, alcohol and fuel excises are all about one thing. Raising taxes.
I think you should do some more research before you make any claims. The government is predicting that due to the latest tax hike on cigarettes it is expected to bring in an extra $5 billion revenue which is supposed to be spent on the health system. If a rise of $3 (approx) rise on cigarettes generates that much money and the government taxes approx 70% of the total cost of a pkt of smokes how much money do you think they are bringing in? If anything smokers are probably paying your medicare bill.
I read somewhere recently that in the 1960's over 70% of the population in Australia smoked, and ciggies were much, much cheaper then compared to today. These days only 20 -30% of the population smoke (if you include part timers 30%) and that figure is decreasing all the time with all the harm minimisation activities that the government engages in these days. Fewer and fewer people are taking up the habit through education, price and through banning smoking in pubic areas etc. Soon, within the next 5 - 10 years, smoking will no longer be a social issue - as others have already mentioned obesity is already a huge problem. You don't see as many kids taking up smoking behind the sheds these days, instead, they are oinking out on sugary and fatty foods. Fat people are draining the health care system with no extra taxes being recovered to compensate - at least smokers pay a shed load in tax for each pack of cigarettes they buy....
Derek, a study released the other day says kids are starting up smoking more now than in the past 10 years. Not bad considering governments tell us the ban on advertising works etc.
Ha if we listened to the government they never fail on anything. I don't know how advertising works anyway- how many people actually pay attention to it? As for kids the more adults tell them not to do something the cooler it is. Teenagers are the biggest sheeple out there.
I don't doubt what you say - there are all sorts of conflicting reports out there these days. However just from simple observation when I go out to pubs (where you can smoke outdoors) / parties etc there are a hell of lot less smokers these days compared to when I first started going out drinking (that was a long time ago but we won't go into that!). I have noticed that particulary the younger generation, say gen Y's, it seems that very few of this generation smoke. I work in an office in the city and out of about 100 workers, only about 10 (max) are smokers. For the record I am only what you would call a part time smoker, only when I drink - so I don't really give a rats either way.
Stores, drivers 'could be targets of ciggie thieves' I'm not the only one who thinks pushing prices too far can create black markets for legal products. What study was this minux? Did it say a greater proportion of 'kids' were starting or were starting at an 'earlier' age, was the uptake persistent or a short temporary spike which wasn't maintained in to adulthood? Were the children who were smoking, consuming more cigarettes than previously or smoking at a lower rate? What was the size of the study? Method of observation? Australian-wide study, single state or single area or community within a state? A study doesn't equal a body of evidence. Besides assuming an increase in smoking has occured despite reductions in advertising doesn't mean the reduced avertising had no effect, the increase may have been larger were advertising not banned or prices not increased. Banning advertising of cigarettes was hardly argued for as a panacea and if someone did then they're a moron. Causation and correlation are difficult concepts to disentangle from population-based research.
Total cost of the health system - no, not even close however on the whole smokers are actually tax positive vs how much they drain from medicare. I'm not a smoker either and don't particularly care what the excise is however I do like that smokers do subsidize the rest of us somewhat in the medical system Reaper
Cigarettes demanded from Adelaide father and son at knife point | Adelaide Now Sign of things to come with the price hike?
my aunty is a smoker, she read that they have increased the tax because smokers (on average) need more healthcare, so the increased tax money goes directly into the overall healthcare system improvements (haha, yeah right). but in the next sentence it says "hopefully the increase will deter smokers from continuing to smoke"
So essentially smokers are covering their own health care, from the tax on tobacco, as well as non smokers, that's actually an interesting theory. I mean you would think the government would be making more off the tax on tobacco than they need, to cover the costs on the health system for smoking related illnesses. Since not 'every' smoker has a need for any specific treatment, or see a doctor for any other reason, any more than the average non smoker does. On a semi-related issue, using the governments way of thinking(increase tax for the 'better'), shouldn't that mean then, that the cost sun tan lotion should be increased, or swimwear, or put a fee on tanning at the beach, or increase the tax on tanning salons and so on? Because skin cancer is also a major drain on the health system, and also one of Australia's biggest killers.
lol, aboriginal in appearance? So he looks like an aboriginal, but is not an aboriginal? ****ing PC police, call a spade a spade ffs. I think this would of happened regardless of the price hikes. I wonder if the budget has upped people who get the dole to cover the ciggy price rise? I mean, Ruddy cannot have his biggest voting base out of pocket... Anwyll, trying to source that report for you, it was from a Doctor on talkback radio discussing the trends and also diswcussing the same trends in other countries who have taken the same cours eof actions re: advertising.
thats exactly right, but the government is banking on people continuning to smoke ,which MOST will, to provide this money for the healthcare system, maybe some will decide that its time to give up when its costing so much? That will mean there is less money being pumped into the health system. Fining people for tanning at the beach and tanning salons +1, there are too many people worried about being pale skinned, and skin cancer is a big issue for the "beach loving Aussie"
