Australian politician exposes the real motivation for tobacco taxes and efforts to ban ecigs

[DrMA]

Senator David Leyonhjelm THANKS Australians for smoking in speech | Daily Mail Online

Select quotes (emphasis added):

Ladies and gentlemen, thank-you for smoking.

Australian smokers contribute significantly to the pile of money that – as I noted in this place recently – other people then spend.

The government collects around 8 billion dollars in tobacco excise each year. That's a lot of cash.

Last year, smokers imposed $318.4 million in net costs on Australia's healthcare system

If you do even basic arithmetic, these figures disclose that you wonderful, generous smokers pay 17 times as much as you cost.

the government is about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, handing all the lovely tax money it extorts from you over to organised crime.

I am put in mind of a constituent's comment, made to me last week. He pointed out that he valued the e-cigarettes now available because they meant he didn't smoke during the day, and also meant he didn't inflict his smoke or smell on others.​

So there you have it: the unusually restrictive AUS anti-ecigs laws are motivated by the fear that they're quite likely to stop the tobacco gravy train dead in its tracks. Eight billion dollars a year is more than enough justification for the AUS desk murderers to send 5.8 million Australian smokers to an early grave by forbidding them access to an alternative that's 100-1000 times safer than smoking.
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[beckdg]

Where's that elephant when you need him? Still playing with his donkey friends, perhaps?

Sent from my device.

 

[VHRB2014]

They are poking the elephant right now.

They will soon find out that you can only poke the elephant for so long before he gets ......!

You ever seen a ...... off elephant? LOL. Its Not funny.

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to Media And General News

 

[Stosh]

Did they send Gruber to Australia to get him out of Washington?

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

So there you have it: the unusually restrictive AUS anti-ecigs laws are motivated by the fear that they're quite likely to stop the tobacco gravy train dead in its tracks. Eight billion dollars a year is more than enough justification for the AUS desk murderers to send 5.8 million Australian smokers to an early grave by forbidding them access to an alternative that's 100-1000 times safer than smoking.

I still think that BG has the most to lose, both in the taxes we wont pay and added medical costs for the extra years we will live. A significantly larger number of us will now live long enough to draw more SS and medicaid. Remember that PMIs CEO said that out of every 20 cigarettes they sell the money from 12 goes to BG.