Cost of cigarettes in SA increases by 199pc in 10 years

A DECADE ago the price of a “regular” packet of 30 cigarettes was $13.50. Today the same pack will cost you $40.50 — but if health advocates had their way, you’d be paying even more. CALCULATOR: HOW MUCH ARE CIGARETTES COSTING YOU?

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A DECADE ago the price of a “regular” packet of 30 cigarettes was $13.50. Today the same pack will cost you $40.50 — but if health advocates had their way, you’d be paying even more.

Figures released to The Advertiser by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for our Cost of Living: Decade of Difference series show the price of tobacco has increased in Australia by 199 per cent in the last 10 years.

As a comparison, the overall rate of inflation, based on CPI, in South Australia for the same time frame is 25.1 per cent.

However, SA Cancer Council’s Alana Sparrow says her organisation lobbied for even bigger tax hikes ahead of a 25 per cent increase in the proportion of the product price directed to excise in April 2010.

“We’d actually sought a 25 per cent increase in total product price which is different and makes the product more expensive … (but still) we were happy,” the general manager of services, research and public policy said.

“Australia is one of the biggest tobacco-taxing countries in the world and we are leading the way when it comes to smoking cessation — we know tax increases are a really effective instrument in getting people to quit.

“We’ve had some great success reducing the number of young people smoking: in 2007 the smoking rate among young people — 15 to 29 years old — was 23 per cent, in 2016 it’d dropped to 12.3 per cent.

“To see such a big a shift in prevalence means what we are doing is working.”

In September 2013, a further 12.5 per cent tax increase was added to the cost of a packet of cigarettes and this was set as an annual recurrent rise, locked in until 2020/21.

Ms Sparrow said she would like to see the taxes raised from cigarette sales go back into prevention measures as well as helping to pay for research into a cure for lung cancer.

“It is all well and good to put in place a tax increase but we need supports in place to help people quit … if cost isn’t the number one motivator, we need to find other ways to reach groups where the prevalence of smoking remains really high,” she said.

Ms Sparrow pointed to money raised through SA Lotteries, which is directed to hospitals, as a model that could be extended to tobacco proceeds.

“We’d absolutely love to see the taxation revenue linked to prevention … to know that the people who are being penalised with the increased taxes are also being supported to quit, that would be fabulous.

“There have been jurisdictions where all pokies’ revenue has gone to a particular cause.”

She also advocated for more relief when it came to the cost of nicotine replacement therapies.

“The reality is smoking is still the largest preventable cause of disease and death in Australia, so the war hasn’t been won by any means … even though we have been really successful, there is still more work to do to make sure we don’t go backwards,” she said.

“We’ve been really successful with the current generation but we need to be careful we keep doing that … that we continue to denomalise smoking.”

Fast facts: Smoking

BACK in 2004/05 cost of tobacco to Australia was put at $31.5 billion — which included $5.7 billion in lost workplace productivity as well as $1.8 billion in gross healthcare costs.

A STUDY into the change in the number of calls to Quitline in the wake of plain packaging in December 2012 revealed a 78 per cent increase — comparable to the increase the followed the introduction of graphic health warnings on packets.

TOBACCO remains the highest risk factor for burden of disease.

TOBACCO use contributes to more than one-third of the burden of respiratory disease and 22 per cent of cancer burden.

Reformed smoker Hayden Naughton with some of the cash he’s saved since giving up smoking. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Martin

Haydo: ‘Why I quit smoking’

THE lure of having extra cash in his back pocket proved an enticing carrot for Adelaide’s Hayden “Haydo” Naughton to give up smoking.

The “almost 40-year-old” Triple M workday announcer, who started smoking at 15, decided late last year to give the habit away, for good.

He’s been using the My QuitBuddy app ever since to keep track of the number of days he has gone without a cigarette — and the cash he’s saved each day by doing so.

When he spoke to the Advertiser, he’d saved $3219 in “272 days, eight hours and 39 minutes”.

Haydo say while he’s tried to quit before, this time it was different.

“Fast approaching 40 and the recent death of my best friend (from brain tumour) made me re-evaluate my health,” he said.

“I used the Quitline and kept saying, ‘I’ve made it this far, I might as well keep going’ … (I also switched to) the mindset of ‘I don’t smoke’, instead of ‘I quit’.”

The appeal of extra cash was an added incentive.

“(I) got sick of paying for fuel with coins before payday, (and) lying, saying ‘use up a bit of shrapnel mate’ …(but) that was literally all the money I had,” he said.

“I’ve been using the My QuitBuddy app to see how long since I became a non-smoker, how many smokes I haven’t had, and how much money I’ve saved.”

Cigarette prices have gone up dramatically in the past 10 years.

Haydo describes simply “breaking the routine” of smoking as one of the hardest steps.

“I didn’t realise how often I’d reward myself with a ciggy, also, how often I used the smokes as a time-filler. For example, to drive from my house to the shops was ‘a ciggy and a half’ … (so) trying to stay distracted in the early days,” he recalls.

He says he’s feeling richer and healthier since he has given up smoking, even though some days — and occasions — are difficult.

The first time he went to the pub, he forced himself to sit in the smokers’ section.

“I wanted to jump straight in … it was good but horrible,” he laughs.

“(Now,), healthwise I feel great … (the best bit is) being able to smell and taste better. I’m still unfit but recovering a lot quicker at the gym,” he said.

“I still struggle at times, I think it always will.”

However, he’s relishing in the extra cash - almost $3000 so far, and counting.

“(The only downside is), I keep tiny things as a reward … like a five-string bass guitar and a mancave recording studio.”

Haydo’s quit tips

EVERYONE is different, but what worked for me was just taking it one day at a time … then one week at a time, and so on.

IT’S OK to fall off the wagon but if you do, try not to immediately light up.

DON’T have the “emergency pack” sitting at home — that’s just dangerous!