The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Shorten's cynical tobacco tax grab > Comments

Shorten's cynical tobacco tax grab : Comments

By John Slater, published 10/12/2015

Almost a quarter of Australians earning in the bottom 20% are smokers. This rises to 30% in poor remote areas and 50% in regional Indigenous communities.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All
John, excellent article but you missed one even more cruel stat, smoking rates among the mentally ill are over 80%.
Posted by imacentristmoderate, Thursday, 10 December 2015 7:44:47 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I remember the headlines as a kid, "Beer and Cigs up". Good to see that Labor is still stuck in the past and following the perversions of that smelly German from the British Museum.
Posted by McCackie, Thursday, 10 December 2015 9:21:55 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It's always the same with poor me, me, me, me smokers! There's one sure fire way to beat this tax! Give up the filthy habit! Quit, you'll be better for it; and if done in a timely manner enable you to beat living death diseases like emphysema and or lung cancer? Other folks have done it! Why can't you? Too weak and gutless to set a better example for the kids?

My sainted mother smoked like it was going out of fashion, all while fouling the air her kids were supposed to breathe; then spent the last years of her life fastened to an oxygen machine that allowed her to roam/stagger from the toilet, the bathroom, the lounge and the kitchen table, a virtual prisoner in her own home.

Most stroke patients are smokers or former smokers as are all too many P.E. victims, which by the way is the commonest cause of sudden death in older folks.

Stop whining as you foul the air you all too often expect other folks to breathe. By the way, P.e's (pulmonary embolisms) are incredibly painful, that nothing not even morphine will touch!

And if you're missing out in the love stakes it could be that you smell like a dirty old ashtray that hasn't be cleaned out since Adam wore knickerbockers! YUK!

Moreover, the stiffening blood flow to the genital area could be compromised by poor blood flow the end result of years of smoking; as is the case for many folks who've lost a limb/leg to gangrene.

It won't/can't happen to you? As they say in the classics about cigarettes, there's a sucker on the end of every one!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Thursday, 10 December 2015 9:29:45 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Shorten, the Danny DeVito of Oz politics, so richly deserves his removal by Madame Lash Plibersek. Get Shorty! https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/32/MPW-16491
Posted by plantagenet, Thursday, 10 December 2015 10:51:52 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
John as usual you have left facts at the door that don't suit your narrative, but then again maybe I'm wrong.

Perhaps just to correct my low opinion of this piece the author can direct me to a link to his thoughts on the Abbott government raising tobacco tax......
Posted by Cobber the hound, Thursday, 10 December 2015 1:00:34 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It's hardly credible to think that there are still folk who don't know that smoking is potentially injurious to their health. That they continue to do so is their choice and so long as it doesn't injure others, their choice is their choice.

Arguably there was a time when smokers were unaware or unsure as to whether their habit was dangerous. Then, taxing them into compliance with other peoples wishes was arguably acceptable. Arguably, smoking around others is potentially injurious to those others. So preventing that from occurring was arguably acceptable. Arguably smoking causes a disproportionate drain on the health budget so taxing to offset that was acceptable.

But all that is long since resolved. The tax offsets the health costs and then some. People are no longer forced to 'endure' passive smoking. Everyone is surely aware that smoking increases the risk of premature death.

So now it is obviously a tax grab. It is also about people of a certain bent determining to impose their standards on others.

Remember the plain packaging debate. This was going to be one of the greatest health measures ever. It failed. Sales rose. But the never ending assault on those engaging in a legal pursuit continues.
Posted by mhaze, Thursday, 10 December 2015 1:25:23 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy