Ranking countries on how they resist tobacco industry’s influence—where is Australia?

The ambition to rate nations for their efforts to keep the tobacco industry from interfering in public health policy is unquestionably important. But this report rates only a very small number of countries.1 Many of those excluded score badly on transparency indexes and have poorly developed public information services. But what possible explanation can there be for not ranking Australia in such a list, leading to headlines like the one on this piece?

Australia’s record in frustrating and repelling the tobacco industry’s efforts to thwart effective tobacco control is surely second to none. Four recent examples (initiating plain packaging and defending it 6-1 in Australia’s High Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the World Trade Organisation; having the world’s most expensive cigarettes; being one of the first nations to ban retail displays of tobacco; and restricting duty free imports to one unopened packet) show our record.

Every policy that the tobacco industry has opposed has been adopted in Australia: the industry has lost every policy battle it has fought. And while the USA is trying to stuff the vaping genie back in its bottle, Australia has adopted a highly precautionary approach to electronic cigarette regulation, which is looking increasingly enviable.

Publishing a global league table with this absence is like ranking nations on marathon running but leaving out Kenya or ranking red wines while excluding those from Bordeaux.