Steve Georganas MP wants to use World No Tobacco Day on May 31 as the day Australian smokers chose to quit the habit.
Member for Hindmarsh, Mr Georganas moved a private members motion in the House of Representatives calling on Australians to use World No Tobacco Day as the day to quit smoking.
“It is a shocking statistci that one in two smokers will die as a direct result of their smoking,” Mr Georganas said.
Mr Georganas used World No Tobacco Day as the day he decided to quit smoking eight years ago, and is now urging Australian smokers to take the same step. A smoker for almost 30 years, Mr Georganas said if he can do it, than anyone can.
“Eight years ago I made an important decision – that my life and my family were too important to keep smoking,” he said.
Smokers all around the world abstained from tobacco on Thursday for 24 hours to mark World No Tobacco Day.
The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day is tobacco industry interference, focussing on the need to expose and counter the tobacco industry’s brazen and increasingly aggressive attempts to undermine global tobacco control efforts.
“This year’s theme is very apt as the government moves to implement its plain packaging legislation which will reduce smoking take up rates and help save the lives of our friends, family, colleagues and children” he said.
“I am proud to be part of a government which is at the forefront of tobacco control and remaining steadfast in the face of attempts by the tobacco industry to obstruct these life saving policies.”
Smoking kills around 15,500 Australians every year and is Australia’s number one preventable cause of death and disease.