High noon for new smoke law

High noon for new smoke law

The heat has been on Western Australia’s pubs and clubs since the Court Government first targeted smoking in enclosed public places in 1999.

Now, five years after those first steps and with a Labor government pulling the legislative strings, smoking law reform is about to become reality.

From July 1 Perth’s nightclubs will be required to be 80 per cent smoke free, rising to 100 per cent smoke free by January 2007.

But pubs won’t be forced to go 100 per cent smoke free, with new changes allowing one room for smokers coming into effect in 2007.

Anti-smoking lobbyists, however, believe pubs should be smoke free, just like the clubs.

Occupational health and safety lawyers contacted by WA Business News don’t believe the changes go far enough.

They say that, unless venues go 100 per cent smoke free, there will always be a risk of future lawsuits from employees.

The few bars and pubs in Perth that have already embraced no-smoking policies say it’s not only good for employee health and morale, but it’s good for business too.

In fact many wonder what all the huffing and puffing is about.

A case in point is The Civic Hotel, which has withdrawn its membership from the Australian Hotels Association because it strongly disagrees with some of the AHA’s current policies, including statements made by its executive director Bradley Woods that smoking bans will negatively affect hotels.

The Civic Hotel has a bar set aside for smokers and, according to assistant manager Peter Waters, who has worked at the hotel on and off for 15 years, going smoke free will bring a new demographic to the hotel.

“About 70 per cent of the population doesn’t smoke so we feel that we can scoop up more market than we lose,” Mr Waters said.

He said the AHA view that smoking bans would have dire consequences was misguided.

“People don’t go to the pub to smoke and get drunk, otherwise they’d buy their cigarettes and alcohol and sit at home,” Mr Waters said. “They come to the pub to socialise and be entertained, and it matters to people that it’s in a safe environment.”

But AHA executive director Bradley Woods said if total smoking bans were economically viable, more Perth venues would embrace the concept.

“People are always looking for a marketing edge, so if it was so successful it would be adopted by more people,” he said.

“There isn’t the demand for that type of venue across the board.”

Similar concerns were raised by some in the restaurant industry when they were forced to go smoke free in 1999.

The industry claimed it would have significant economic consequences.

But WA Restaurant and Caterers Association executive director Terry Bright told WA Business News the industry had not suffered the fallout it had expected, and that the economic impact was negligible.

For his part, Mr Woods said he had yet to see any evidence suggesting pubs would not lose any money if total smoking bans were introduced.

“If they [the health authorities] can provide a contractual guarantee that if there is a loss of earnings they will compensate for it, we would introduce it [the smoking ban],” he said.

Both Australian Council on Smoking and Health executive director Stephen Hall and Heart Foundation chief executive officer Maurice Swanson said they had sent Mr Woods evidence that there was no economic impact to hotels.

Mr Hall was dismissive of any call for compensation.

“He [Mr Woods] is simply diverting away from the real issue. The issue is the health and safety of workers in these places,” Mr Hall told WA Business News.

Mr Hall said a report he sent to Mr Woods indicated that pubs would not be affected financially.

The report, by The VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control in Australia, was an overall assessment of studies using objective measures. It found no negative sales or employment effects on bars and restaurants from smoke-free regulations.

Mr Woods, however, claimed the report was not an independent evaluation.

“It has come from one of their counterparts. The report needs to be from an independent source,” he said. “This has come from the anti-tobacco lobby.”

Must Winebar director Russell Blaikie believes having a smoke-free policy has been an integral component in the success of his business.

“I think it’s fantastic for business,” Mr Blaikie said.

“As a group, smokers generally understand that their habit is anti-social. I have friends who are smokers and they know they are the minority.

“The smokers we have here are accepting of the rules and we don’t have a problem implementing a no-smoking policy.”

Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle has a no-smoking indoors policy.

Its director, Nic Trimboli, said the decision was based on servicing current market trends.

“The drinking public is not some ocker blue-collar worker sitting at the bar puffing away,” he said.

“Most of the public is already used to not smoking in their work environment, so if you go to an entertainment environment why should it be any different?

“There are workers in that environment so what is the difference between hospitality workers and office workers?

“The reality is the majority of the public doesn’t smoke and it has become rude for people to light up if they are in a public environment with non-smokers, they feel apprehensive about it.”

As the AHA continues to fight total smoke bans, WA’s clubs are preparing to implement new smoking restrictions on July 1.

The law requires cabaret licence holders to have 80 per cent of the venue smoke free.

WA Cabaret Owners Association executive director David Wallace believes pubs should be forced to implement the same changes and at the same time in order to minimise consumer confusion. 

The debate in WA is mirrored internationally, with several countries banning smoking in public venues in recent months.

Norway went smoke free on June 1 this year, the second country to do so after Ireland banned smoking in enclosed public places on March 29.

Reports from Norway indicate some venues held ashtray-smashing parties, while a poster at Oslo airport depicting two men holding a large fish had a caption that read: “The only thing we smoke here is salmon”.

SMOKING LAWS 

• Perth nightclubs to be 80 per cent smoke free from July 1, 100 per cent from January 2007.
• Pubs to offer smokers a smoking room from 2007.
• AHA concerned about bans’ effect on pub trade.