Key events
Health experts decry watering down of vaping bill
Melissa Davey
On Monday the government announced it had reached an agreement with the Greens to significantly water down vaping legislation. The original legislation would have only allowed people to buy vaping products from a pharmacy if they had a prescription from their doctor or another authorised health professional.
But to secure support from the Greens in the Senate, the government has agreed to a number of amendments, the key one being to allow people to buy vapes at pharmacies without a prescription.
It is a significant step-back, given that the original bill and prescription-only model was backed by peak medical bodies, health organisations and tobacco control experts. The original legislation also had strong public support.
University of Sydney public health expert Associate Prof Becky Freeman said she wants to know what will be done to ensure pharmacists will be truly independent from the vaping and tobacco industries if the amendments pass:
That means we need measures to ensure that there is no advertising of these products allowed to pharmacists, that there’s no wining and dining of pharmacists to try and get certain vape products into pharmacies, and we need to ensure that vapes remain a therapeutic product and not a consumer good that’s just available to anyone going to a pharmacy.
She added that, if the amendments pass, vapers would not have to see a doctor for a prescription, so important opportunities for conversations about quitting vaping and health monitoring will be lost.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Morning and welcome to today’s live news coverage from Canberra I’m Martin Farrer and here are some of the big stories as we start the day, before Amy Remeikis takes over.
A timely reminder that Australia needs to get its act together on climate and energy comes today with Unesco warning the government it must set more ambitious emissions targets or the Great Barrier Reef could be placed on the “in danger” list of world heritage sites. The report, published in Paris late last night, says Australia should be asked to submit a progress report by February. After that, the committee “could consider the inclusion of the property on the list of world heritage in danger” at its 2026 meeting.
Experts have been lining up to criticise the Albanese government’s decision to water down the legislation that was originally billed as a crackdown on vaping. Public health specialists say an opportunity has been missed and it looks as though the government will cop a lot of flak for the backtracking today. But with a deadline of the start of July to fix a vaping policy bearing down on them, Labor has ignored the pleas of doctors and watered down its plans to win the support of the Greens. More analysis and news coming up.
It’s not surprising that the cold weather in eastern Australia has led to a spike in demand for gas. But the supply of gas is coming under strain and the problem will worsen without the urgent addition of more backup resources. Unusually calm weather has hampered renewable supply as well, according to Rick Wilkinson, the chief executive of consultants EnergyQuest, and Victoria will “need a backup” to handle peak winter gas demand from 2026.
And a Labor MP has written a paper warning that Aukus supporters must continue to build the case for nuclear submarines to counter “fissures” in public opinion. More on that, too, in a tick.
