John Crown (Independent)

I may be out of order and, if I am, I ask the Acting Chairman to indulge a freshman Senator ill-informed with the standard operating procedures. I take this opportunity to raise with the Minister of State a matter with respect to the Bill which through my own inattention I should have raised at an earlier stage in the proceedings. I call on the Government, while it is still possible, to consider including a further amendment to the Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill. The amendment could specifically ban cigarette smoking in vehicles where a child is present.

At this stage, we have all bought into the logic of the original Bill. It was considered revolutionary at the time and it was forward-thinking on the part of the then Minister, Deputy Martin. The logic was to ban smoking in enclosed workplaces. This included smoking in a car if it was a company car, even if it was on one's own car. This made a great deal of sense. As a result of what I do for a living I have met many people who drive for a living. They have remarked how strange it is that they could be prohibited from smoking in their own company car but it makes a great deal of sense.

It is the commonplace experience of every citizen who drives through the city and who gets stuck in a line of traffic to see children strapped into car seats in an enclosed car with one or more adults smoking in that car. If this is not already illegal the Bill should be amended to make it so. There is a neat provision which could be amended. There is a section in which the Minister has the right to prevent smoking in several places including places of work, health facilities and Government offices. I propose a simple amendment: to add a sub-section to forbid smoking where children are present in a vehicle. In addition, although it would be harder to enforce, it may be possible to consider making it illegal to smoke in any room where a child is present, including a room in one's own house. They could be a test case to establish it. The ultimate logic is not to expose minors who cannot make their own decisions with regard to smoke and that they should not be exposed to smoke being produced by other smokers until they have legal adulthood.