At the National Press Club’s health policy debate during last year’s federal election, Greg Hunt was asked by Tim Shaw – yes, the Demtel guy – “when will you authorise the vaping product alternative [to cigarettes]?”

Hunt responded unequivocally: “That is not something that on my watch I’m willing to countenance”, “It’s not something I support”, “no, that’s not what I’m proposing” and, for good measure, “So long as I’m in the role, that won’t be something… that we’ll be adopting”.