Australian smokers exiled

Victoria has banned smoking in bars

By Phil Mercer in Melbourne

In Australia some of the world's toughest anti-smoking laws could be about to get even stricter and be extended to include all pubs and clubs.

Such a move was unthinkable a few years ago but now legal and health concerns have forced a radical shake-up in the way Australians think about smoking.

Sometimes I feel like I've been sent to the leper colony

Melbourne smoker

Smoke-free legislation is sweeping across the country. Only the Northern Territory has resisted this nationwide purge on tobacco.

In Melbourne, the capital of the southern state of Victoria, the last five months have seen a seismic shift in attitudes towards the estimated 20% of the population which smokes.

In July, smoking was outlawed in Melbourne's cafes and restaurants. On 1 November the bans were extended to shopping centres.

Todd Harper, the executive director of QUIT Victoria, a pressure group which advises the state government on new laws, told BBC News Online it had been a "historic step".

"We can't let smokers put the health and safety of others at risk," he said. "Our aim is to completely ban smoking in all pubs and bars within 12 months."

MPs in Western Australia and Tasmania are investigating similar measures.

Mixed reaction

Melbourne's cafe culture has boomed in recent years and some in the industry believe the new legislation is hurting business.

Nationwide bans on smoking could follow

Marie is the assistant manager at the Bourke Armoury bistro near Melbourne's Spencer Street station. She said trade had fallen by up to 40% and she is not the only one feeling the pinch.

"Almost everyone's affected," she said. "It's hitting most places really hard."

As for the customers, Marie said there had been a mixed response.

"Many of our regulars are very happy about it," she said. "Others aren't and say they're being discriminated against."

Sent outside

Melbourne has a distinctly European feel, with its inclement weather, its architecture and trams. The list of places where smokers can seek refuge from the new laws is rapidly shrinking.

It gets me into the fresh air

Male smoker

Bans are in place on all public transport, at cinemas, shops, cafes, most workplaces and the city's showpiece sporting venues, the M.C.G and Colonial Stadium.

Some surgeons here have demanded patients waiting for major elective surgery quit smoking before the operation.

Workers huddling around oversize ashtrays outside the city's office blocks are a common sight.

"Sometimes I feel like I've been sent to the leper colony," said one young woman.

Paul, a security guard, who gets through 30 cigarettes a day and has done so for the past 30 years, said he agreed with the bans.

Marlene Sharp - the first non-smoker to win a passive-smoking case

"Others find smoking offensive so I don't mind standing out here," he said. "It gets me into the fresh air."

A decisive moment for Australia's anti-smoking campaigners came earlier this year. In May a former barmaid in New South Wales became the first non-smoker in the world to be awarded damages for cancer caused by passive smoking.

Marlene Sharp, 63, developed a cancerous lump in her throat and sued her former employer, a war veterans' club south of Sydney for negligence. She was awarded US$235,000.

"I feel that I've done something good for people,'' she said at the time. "I think non-smokers should have the option of whether they want to have smoke blown all over them when they visit a club or pub.'"

The fear of costly litigation is now a major force behind the tough new laws.