John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

On the section, I agree with much of what Senator Henry had to say about hotel bedrooms. We have all had the experience of being given what was supposed to be a non-smoking room only to find on entering that somebody had been smoking in it. That is a matter for the people using the room, however, rather than forcing the hotel staff to monitor the position and ensure that people do not smoke. I accept what Senator Quinn said. The market eventually will decide these issues.

There is another aspect on which I would like the Minister's observation. It is to do with section 16(7)(d), which refers to "an outdoor part of a place or premises covered by a fixed or movable roof, provided that not more than 50 per cent of the perimeter of that part is surrounded by one or more walls." It appears to exclude sporting stadiums.

I had the privilege of travelling to Australia for the Rugby World Cup and at both the International Rules match in the Melbourne cricket ground and the Ireland-Australia match in the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, there was a smoking ban in operation. We were reminded before the game started, at half time and at the end of the game that they were non-smoking stadia. There is a universal ban in restaurants and so on in New South Wales; one has to go outside to smoke.

Last Saturday was a day to be remembered in Twickenham but one of the difficulties is that if one is sitting in a stadium, one has absolutely no choice about moving if the person in front is smoking. There is nothing one can do to move whereas in almost every other circumstance one can move. Is it stretching matters too much to think that at some stage we might have a smoking ban in sporting stadia?