by Pippa Starr
May 30, 2024
A rebuttal of Mark Butler’s latest media release on tobacco & vaping.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler released a media statement yesterday on the back of his support for the World Health Organisation’s position on vaping and tobacco protocols.
On the surface, many fair-minded Australians probably believe it’s great thing to be part of Mike Bloomberg’s major sponsored organisation, ie. The WHO. When it comes to reaching goals in ending smoking worldwide their track record speaks for itself.
Just over 10 years ago they established the WHO Framework On Tobacco Control. Back then they were facing the awful prospect of 1 Billion lives being lost to smoking this century, a decade later the expected loss is set to exceed 1.1 Billion!
If deaths caused by smoking is the critical metric of measuring success, then what the hell has gone so bloody awfully wrong over the last decade or so?
Yet successive Australian Health Ministers have been in lockstep with the WHO on this issue and while also claiming to be world leaders, have a record of one of the slowest reductions of real smoking rates in the modern world!
Despite popular belief, The Australian Government is NOT obligated to participate in WHO policies or protocols, rather it is a choice.
But is it the right one?
Over recent months the WHO has disseminated so much inaccurate information about vaping on social media platforms that they have been subjected to no less than 30 community notes correcting their misinformation and inaccuracies on “X”!
The WHO has become a mouthpiece and promoter of prohibitionist New York Billionaire, Bloomberg, rather than one of fair and reasonable conduct that respects the human rights to harm reduction.
That said, let’s break down Health Minister Butler’s media statement from yesterday:
Mark Butler said:
“On the eve of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, Australia’s leadership in the fight against smoking and vaping has been commended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with Regional Director Saia Ma'u Piukala saying “Australia's leadership in tobacco control is both commendable and inspiring”.
If Saia Ma'u Piukala believes 81 firebombings near community hubs, childcare centres, and businesses is inspiring, all the results of draconian prohibitionary measures on tobacco and vaping, then I hate to think what he might think is world leading!
The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, in Geneva for the World Health Assembly, hosted top-level international talks on e-cigarettes and vaping with health leaders and officials attending the Assembly. The landmark meeting was held in preparation for World No Tobacco Day, which this year is focussed on protecting children from tobacco industry interference.
Any fair minded Australian doesn’t want our youths exposed to the perils of Big Tobacco smoking, however while I also condemn Big Tobacco for their god awful past, I also understand that smokes and vapes being sold to underage youths in Australia are being supplied via a non big tobacco black market!
The meeting highlighted the WHO call to action for Member States to take urgent and decisive action on e-cigarettes, with the release of a new WHO report ‘Hooking the Next Generation: how the tobacco industry captures young customers’.
There is no good evidence of big tobacco companies in Australia hooking or capturing new customers to smoking or vaping products. There is only jibberish coming from public health messaging and the dire results of bans that were mentioned no less than 19 times in the WHO's “Hooking the Next Generation” report! Bans have caused the black market to take control of no less than a quarter of all tobacco sold in Australia and 92% of vapes!
To strengthen the global response, Minister Butler chaired a roundtable discussion with other Health Ministers and senior foreign health officials, to discuss countries’ shared challenges and successes in taking action on the harms of vaping.
Butler is well known for his round table discussions. He ignores consumers, doctors and experienced experts favouring those who benefit by receiving millions of tax payers dollars to tell him what he wants to hear! He closes the door to ANYONE that disagrees with him on this issue and anyone with an experienced harm reduction angle.
Governments are increasingly following Australia’s lead and taking steps to protect young people by prohibiting or restricting the widespread supply, availability and promotion of vapes.
Wait? What?
Did he say prohibiting?
Mark Butler and his round table group of advisors have claimed on many occasions vapes aren’t being prohibited because Australian’s can get overpriced awful quality Big Tobacco branded vapes on prescription from an extremely limited number of doctors and chemists.
“The Albanese Government’s world-leading vaping legislation is being followed with interest around the world.”
It sure is, and it’s fair to say that those around the world who have seen a teen tunnel rolled into the pavement by police and seen the huge fireballs hitting suburbs every other day here in Australia are in absolute awe of what sort of black market they can have with more prohibition!
“The laws will protect children, young people and all Australians from the harms of vaping,”
The children are used to enter a life of crime as they are encouraged by middle eastern crime syndicates and bikie gangs to blow up our suburbs and execute people? Oh you meant from actual vaping, that is promoted in schools with messaging that includes how and where to buy them, funded by your round table experts? Exhibit A: https://youtu.be/GlMnJSiZJoQ?si=P51__DvJNfcTApVR…
Ok let’s start that paragraph again,
“The laws will protect children, young people and all Australians from the harms of vaping by regulating vapes as therapeutic products and ending the sale of vapes outside of pharmacies, blockingavenues for marketing and advertising, and criminalising the commercial sale, supply and manufacture of non-regulated vapes.”
More of the same blocking/prohibition bravado with no recognition of the current laws in place that already criminalise teens for purchasing vape products under age 18.
“The legislation is before the Senate and due to come into effect on 1 July 2024.”
That is subject to a vote in the senate around a week before July 1, 2024.
Right now there is no final guidance for doctors, no clarity on what amount of vapes that a consumer could possess without penalty and no measure of success/failure or KPI’s from the TGA who are meant to be overseeing this farcical shitshow that is about to have even further petrol poured on.
Will matches and firecrackers be supplied to teen fire bombers too?
Alongside introducing world-leading vaping reforms, the Albanese Labor Government’s comprehensive new tobacco legislation came into effect on 1 April 2024 and includes new measures to ensure that tobacco use continues to decline.
World’s most expensive cigarettes = world leading measures?
World’s biggest tobacco black market of any OECD nation, is that world leading?
These laws build upon Australia’s world-leading plain packaging laws that were introduced by the Labor Government in 2012.
More than 20 countries have since followed Australia’s lead and introduced their own plain packaging laws.
The world leading plain packaging laws, oh yes.
They worked did they?
Granted they may have had some mild effect to deter people from taking up smoking, but the gross ads with the sponge of tar pouring into beakers was a far more effective deterrent.
“Not only are the states and territories, peak medical bodies and the World Health Organization supportive of stronger controls on e-cigarettes – other governments are following Australia’s lead and taking their own action."
If you are taking Australia’s lead on this issue, may someone’s god help you and your country. We had a beautiful way of life here just a few years ago.
“More than 20 countries have followed Australia’s lead on plain packaging of cigarettes, a policy that Health Minister Nicola Roxon and the Labor Government introduced in the face of a savage assault from the tobacco industry.”
Butler, has openly said he was in awe of Roxon in his earlier days in politics, he clearly sees this has his big moment to stamp himself into history, instead he has stamped himself into a prohibitionist that is causing death and misery!
“History is repeating, as Australia again leads the way on vaping and e-cigarettes. The world is watching, and the passage of our vaping legislation is being followed with great interest by other governments around the world.”
It's clear here that Butler is experiencing delusions of grandeur that is disconnected from the reality that is before him.
The world is watching, and it is beyond embarrassing.
Australia is now known as “clown country” and worse!
“The best time to have done this would have been five years ago, but the second-best time is now. As Parliamentarians, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity and responsibility to act now, to safeguard the health of young Australians for generations to come.”
By this statement alone, Mark Butler exhibits his complete arrogance and pigheadedness.
Vaping nicotine has always been banned in Australia without a prescription.
This will be the third time that a government have manipulated policies and got it completely wrong!
They have got the science wrong and developed policy based on the advice of those who have made a lucrative industry for themselves rather than achieving success.
Youths have had vaping jammed down their throat and promoted by the Australian Govt, State govts and their NGOs that we all pay for!
While we all wish it was big tobacco to pin down and execute like they did to our now “dead too soon” relatives, it just isn’t this time.
It’s a sick joke by an industry that has not only gotten inside Mark Butler’s head but far too many in public health.
The NGOs involved believe that they can misuse their previously built trust that was created in the great work they did in anti-tobacco campaigns.
Now they leech that public funding in anyway they can!
When this giant racket is exposed, and it will be, those who have been treating Australian public health like a 1980’s billboard to vandalise will be held to account. As will the dark money they also receive from various sources outside Govt funding!
The sooner the better!
Comments