Sam Maiden: Why National Party leader David Littleproud’s vape ‘crack down’ will get next generation of kids hooked

If the Nationals have sold their political soul for vape dollars, they’ve even done that cheap, writes Samantha Maiden. Should vape laws align with cigarette laws? Have your say.

National Party leader David Littleproud is an innocuous little fellow but this week he did something so egregious it was sickening.

What he did was try to convince Australians that he was “cracking down” on vapes when the proposal he was actually outlining would flog them in every supermarket in the land.

Claiming current laws are not working – he’s right – the Nationals want to align the sale of e-cigarettes with cigarettes at licensed retailers where they are sold from behind the counter.

And he nearly got away with it, convincing some that he was acting to “protect children” when he was, in fact, proposing that vapes be sold just about everywhere.

Consider Exhibit A: The interview of Health Minister Mark Butler on ABC Melbourne with Rafael Epstein, a journalist who actually has a clue.

“The Nationals are suggesting we regulate vapes the same way we regulate real cigarettes, some tighter rules, that would actually be quite a good idea, wouldn’t it?,’’ Epstein asked.

The Health Minister’s response was blunt and accurate.

“It’s a terrible idea. It would normalise vaping which is a public-health menace around the country,’’ he said.

“It’s no surprise really that it’s an idea that has been pushed by lobby groups that are funded by Big Tobacco.

“We only saw research released earlier this week that confirms that if you vape, you’re three times more likely to take up cigarettes.”

National Party leader David Littleproud. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

If you believe the pro-vape movement, flogging these items across the country is some sort of freedom fight.

That’s right, the prospect of millions of children sucking on plastic devices with unicorns and bubblegum flavours is some sort of fight for democracy.

But what it’s actually about is getting a new generation of children hooked on vaping, with plastic vapes that look like they should be on sale in Smiggle, to create a new market that’s dried up due to restrictions on cigarettes.

Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin slammed the Nationals’ vaping plan.

“It is dangerous and is guaranteed to commit today’s children and future generations of Australians to lifelong nicotine addiction,” he said.

“Tobacco is one of the most available consumer products in the market. It is available in supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol stations, bars, pubs, clubs, and more. This is exactly the model that will make the vaping problem worse, so it is the opposite of the solution we need.”

To be fair to radio host Raf Epstein, he was playing devil’s advocate to provoke a response, a necessary evil given that the health minister can deliver a spectacularly boring interview.

It worked.

“Wouldn’t it work if you restricted packaging, restricted imports, only let people who are licensed sell vapes, those things would make a difference wouldn’t they?,’’ Epstein asked.

Butler replied it would make a difference. Just not a good one.

“It would normalise vaping. It would massively increase their use. It would essentially normalise something that was presented, essentially as a smoking cessation tool, so something that doctors can prescribe for someone who just can’t quit the smokes.”

Right now, vapes are a black market. In theory, you can only get a nicotine vape from a chemist. But they are everywhere.

“It’s a black market which has been allowed to get out of control because over the last few years as numbers have exploded, the former government didn’t take action,’’ the Health Minister said.

The Nationals’ vaping plan “is guaranteed to commit today’s children to lifelong nicotine addiction,” Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin said.

National Political Editor Samantha Maiden

“Now, my predecessor Greg Hunt, to his significant credit, tried to put in place import controls that would put this thing under control, and he got rolled by his own party room. So, what you have now is a situation where hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people are vaping, and they’re vaping illegally.

“One of the things I think we need to combat is this idea that vapes are benign, that they’re not a health threat in and of themselves. We know that ingesting all of those chemicals into your lungs, in and of itself is unhealthy, but we also know that you’re three times more likely to take up cigarettes, which everyone knows is the biggest killer, still, of Australians if you vape.

“And these things are shamelessly marketed to kids, even in a way that cigarettes weren’t, they have pink unicorns on them, they’re bubblegum flavoured. A parent told us last week that they discovered in a very young child’s pencil case a vape that was shaped as a highlighter pen. This is the sort of thing that we’re combating, and it’s showing up in your Victorian Poisons hotline, which in the last 12 months had more than 50 kids under the age of five poisoned by vaping.”

That’s right, more than 50 kids under five poisoned and the Nationals want to make vapes easier to get, without a prescription.

It’s always a good idea when trying to work out what’s really going on here to follow the money.

The Australian Electoral Commission Transparency Register shows that, since 2017, Philip Morris has contributed $245,562 to the National Party of Australia. British American Tobacco is also a world leader in the vaping market.

But the Nationals leader insisted he had no issue with taking money from big tobacco companies.

“Because it’s a legal product,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We’ve taken money from the telcos, from the banks, from even, if you want to see my comments on wagering companies, they donate to the Nationals as well.”

Last year, Philip Morris donated $55,000 to the Nationals and $55,000 to the Liberal Democrats, a group that has consistently championed vaping as “the safer alternative to smoking”.

If the Nationals have sold their political soul for vape dollars, they’ve even done that cheap.

Originally published as Sam Maiden: Why National Party leader David Littleproud’s vape ‘crack down’ will get next generation of kids hooked