Years Serving the SA Hotel Industry
From the President DAVID BASHEER – AHA|SA PRESIDENT
Feds: Urgent Need to Fix Chef Shortage SMOKING TIMING BEGGARS BELIEF
We have become very accustomed to health bureaucrats governing our lives over the past 18 months. As frustrating as it is, and as difficult as it is to implement their needs, any fair-minded person understands why their involvement right now is so pronounced. But why, why, why would the health bureaucracy select this time to release their ‘South Australian Tobacco Control Strategy 20212025’ for us to be potentially saddled with? Surely they understand this has been the most difficult time any hospitality person has experienced? To seek to burden us with more costs, more regulation and more compliance right now is beyond belief. The desire this time is a requirement to provide a more ‘enhanced’ provision for smoke-free spaces at licensed venues. More cost. More compliance. Potentially a loss of more customers. And we become the smoking cops.
Smoking rates are currently 10.6 percent of the SA adult population. The goal is to reduce that figure to 6.25% by 2025. And they are coming after our venues and our customers to achieve it. No state has implemented new smoking laws better than South Australia. That is because of the high degree of co-operation from pubs - and plenty of cost. The changes in 2007 saw us forced into huge capital investment requirements to meet SA Health’s new demands. Significant work and consultation took part in 2016 and
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again in 2018 and 2019. We now know there is no finishing line and AHA|SA members are being used to implement their controls and desires. The AHA|SA has argued, on your behalf, that the current strategies are proving highly effective and there is no need to increase the provision for even more smoke-free spaces within our venues. Indeed, we believe this poorly thought out strategy will force smokers onto the footpath with no controls over second-hand smoke or litter. Back to Contents
