November 28, 2022
South Burnett Regional Council will put up signs in Kingaroy’s CBD soon to advise smokers where they can legally smoke and where they cannot.
The Council will also move existing ashtrays and other infrastructure to designated CBD smoking areas, and will ask police and Queensland Health to continue a community education approach about smoking laws that both organisations pursued about public health directives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If these smoking area changes succeed, Council will consider expanding the same approach to all the region’s CBD areas in coming years.
It will also consider whether it’s necessary to create a new Local Law covering smoking in CBD areas or not.
The issue of smoking in Kingaroy’s CBD was first raised during consultations with traders during the roll-out of the Kingaroy Transformation Project.
Several said the current locations of ashtrays in the CBD meant secondhand smoke often blew into their shops, and asked if Council could move them to eliminate the problem.
The Kingaroy Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) also raised the issue because of the planned introduction of outdoor dining in Kingaroy’s CBD.
At November’s General Meeting, Councillors debated the new measures for 20 minutes, with several saying they thought most smokers would be happy to comply with the new system if signs made it clear where they could and could not smoke.
They said the steady reduction in the number of public places where people could smoke over the past decade meant most smokers were already used to restrictions, especially around food and drink outlets, and would be happy to comply if Council made it easy to determine where designated smoking areas were.
Cr Kirstie Schumacher said she supported the proposal but did not think introducing a new Local Law was necessary to put the changes into effect.
Cr Gavin Jones said he was concerned the new measures could create issues in the community, and he believed local police had more important things to do than fine smokers, but said he would support the motion despite these misgivings.
He would like to see the government ban smoking but doubted it ever would because of the revenue tobacco generated.
Cr Jane Erkens said she doubted the amount of money the government received from tobacco excise outweighed the cost to the public health system of treating smoking-related diseases.
But she also believed most smokers wanted to give up the habit and restrictions would help, so she would support the motion.
Cr Danita Potter said she agreed a Local Law wasn’t necessary, but would be happy to revisit the question in a year’s time.
Cr Scott Henschen said he was a non-smoker but thought the question was “a curly one”, given that many smokers persisted with the habit despite the high cost of cigarettes and graphic warnings about the health dangers of smoking on cigarette packs.
He said this indicated to him that many remaining smokers were locked into their addiction, He agreed the issue had the potential to cause division. He also thought police had more important work to do than chase down and fine smokers for breaching current laws.
Mayor Brett Otto said the main aim of the measure was to educate the community and seek their co-operation, not capture and punish offenders.
He said the intent of the motion was to install signs to inform the community about where they could and could not smoke; restrict smoking in Council structures; and encourage the police and Queensland Health to continue to take a soft approach to the issue.
When the motion was put to the vote it was carried 6-1, with Cr Henschen opposed.
