Mr PERRETT (Moreton) (21:12): This is something I do not think I have ever done before, but I commend the member for Riverina for his contribution, and I pass on my kind thoughts to him for his family. In rising to support this motion put forward by the member of the Blair, I think there is a lot of bipartisan support for the motion and the idea that the government needs to recognise that tobacco is still Australia's single most preventative cause of death. At least three million Australians still smoke regularly. Unlike the member for Riverina, I cannot say I have never had a smoke. Thankfully, I did give up back in the seventies when I was still a kid. But, sadly, not before I hooked my older sister, Kerry Shearer, and she still hounds me over that. Out of the nine children who are alive in my family, three of them still smoke. So we are certainly a smoking family. Sadly, smoking kills more than 19,000 Australians every year, and I was horrified to see, when researching this, that it went up from 16,000 in 2003. Smoking costs society more than $31 billion a year. If all those Australians who smoke were to stop smoking, that would actually create enough money to almost half-fill the opposition's budget black hole, so it is obviously something that there should be bipartisan support for. We must do more to discourage people from smoking and I appeal to all those that have spoken or will speak—members, senators, candidates and political parties—to stop accepting donations from tobacco companies. I was horrified to hear some of those figures from the member from Blair of the amount of money that has rolled into the coffers of those opposite over the last few years from tobacco companies. Obviously, the Labor Government today, in 2013, is no friend of tobacco. Already we have increased the excise by 25 per cent to make smoking less affordable. Honourable members interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Murphy ): Order! The member for Moreton will resume his seat. The member for Dawson on a point of order. Mr Christensen: I rise on a point of order. The National Party does not receive funding from tobacco. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Dawson knows that there are other means in which he can make a contribution. The member for Moreton. Mr PERRETT: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I just confirm that the Liberal-National Party in Queensland receives money from the big tobacco companies. That is the fact. There is opportunity for me to correct the record but that is the actual fact. I was interested to see the member for Dawson rise on that point of order. The reality is that the Labor government has taken significant steps. We have increased the excise by 25 per cent to make smoking less affordable. We have a great record on tobacco control. We have plain packaging because we introduced the world's first legislation for plain packaging for tobacco products. That was the last front for marketing tobacco products. That legislation was not supported by those opposite. We have also banned internet advertising. Dr Southcott: That's wrong. Mr PERRETT: Would you like me to show you the tweets that were made by those opposite in terms of not supporting the plain packaging? Dr Southcott interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Murphy ): Order! The member for Boothby will desist from interjecting. The member for Moreton has the call. Mr PERRETT: Sorry, Deputy Speaker, I stand corrected by the member for Boothby on that. The nanny-state postcards that I received were not from the Liberal Party. I should stress that, although the nanny-state campaign was certainly supported by some members opposite. I particularly commend the courage of the former Attorney-General, the member for Gellibrand, Nicola Roxon, for her stance on this. We put nicotine patches on the PBS, making them more affordable, especially for pensioners and low-income earners. And we have had 111,900 dispensed between February and June, which means lives have been saved because people have stopped smoking. We have the social marketing campaign, under which $85 million was invested in campaigns to encourage Australians to quit smoking. The Quitline investment of $5 million was so that people get the support when they need to get off the darbs. Obviously, Indigenous communities have been particularly vulnerable to advertising techniques because their smoking rates have increased—particularly for Indigenous women—so we are putting $100 million into Closing the Gap programs across 57 regions in Australia. There has been a record $872 million invested in preventative health programs, including in Tackling Smoking programs through workplaces and councils. Sadly, the Liberal Party does not have the same view as the Labor Party in terms of refusing endorsements from large companies including Big Tobacco like British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris. With $2 million since 2004, obviously the head of that organisation, Brian Loughnane, has made the decision to keep on accepting that money. Obviously the Leader of the Opposition has made his decision to keep on accepting that money. (Time expired)