AUSTRALIANS today got their first look at the plainer, uglier cigarette packets the Federal Government hopes will curb smoking among young people.

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Health Minister Nicola Roxon says she wants all cigarette packaging to be olive green, because research shows it is the least attractive colour for smokers.

Under proposed legislation aimed at reducing smoking rates in Australia, all logos will be removed from cigarette packaging, and tobacco companies will be required to print their brand name in a specific font.

4.48pm Tobacco giants including Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco Australia have slammed the proposed plain packaging legislation, saying there's "no credible evidence" it will reduce smoking.



"Plain packaging has not been introduced in any country in the world and there is no evidence to support the government's claim that this will reduce smoking," Imperial Tobacco said in a statement.



Philip Morris spokesman Chris Argent said plain packaging would fuel the illicit trade in tobacco products.

2.18pm The Federal Coalition says it wants to see more evidence that plain packaging of cigarettes will lower smoking rates before it decides whether to back the legislation.

Opposition Health spokesman Peter Dutton appeared skeptical over the effectiveness of the measure in reducing smoking rates, calling for more information from the Government.

"We want to see all of the detail and obviously the exposure draft has just been released, so we'll give that proper analysis, but there are a lot of question marks around this.



"They've announced this three times, but they still haven't given the detail which shows this would actually reduce smoking rates."

1.49pm Twitter is abuzz with speculation about how the big tobacco companies will respond to the new proposal for cigarette packaging. @DrRimmer:

"The Plain Packaging for Tobacco Products bill is well-crafted - the tobacco industry are going to waste a lot of money if they challenge it."

12.02pm The Coalition is refusing to endorse plain cigarette packaging unveiled by Health Minister Nicola Roxon today, saying it will examine the details of proposed legislation before deciding whether to support the change.

11.15am Anti-smoking groups welcomed the legislation, saying it would stop children taking up smoking.

The Heart Foundation and Cancer Council Australia said the current glossy tobacco product packaging amounted to advertising to attract new smokers.

"Our research shows that the look of the pack is an important consideration for young people at risk of being drawn to smoking," Cancer Council chief executive Ian Oliver said in a statement. "So this move by the Australian Government has the potential to be one of the most significant public health measures in recent history."

The Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH) said plain packaging will make cigarette packs unattractive.

"This is a historic day for tobacco control globally," ACOSH spokesperson Professor Mike Daube said. "The tobacco industry's ferocious opposition to plain packaging shows that they know how effective it will be. "They also know that once Australia has shown the way, other countries will follow."

11.13am Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon also called on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to support the plain packaging legislation, while saying the Liberal Party had taken donations from tobacco companies in the past.

She said while the plain packaging plan had been announced 12 months ago "the Liberal Party has made no statement of support".

10.45am Ms Roxon said the Government would not be scared by potential legal action from "big tobacco companies", after British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) warned it could face billions of dollars in compensation.

BATA - whose brands include Winfield, Dunhill and Benson & Hedges - said today the proposal would infringe international trademark and intellectual property laws.

10.30am Ms Roxon today released the Government's proposed legislation for the initiative as it continues the fight to reduce smoking related deaths in the community.

"This plain packaging legislation is a world first and sends a clear message that the glamour is gone - cigarette packs will now only show the death and disease that can come from smoking," she said in a statement.

"The new packs have been designed to have the lowest appeal to smokers and to make clear the terrible effects that smoking can have on your health."

Smoking kills 15,000 Australians a year and costs the community about $31.5 billion annually, the government says.



If the legislation was passed, health warnings and graphic pictures depicting the dangers of smoking would take up 90 per cent of the front of packs, and 75 per cent of the back, Ms Roxon told ABC's Late Line program last night.

Big Tobacco has spent millions of dollars fighting the plain packaging. Their latest salvo has been a bid to turn smokers into a political force with an under-the-radar campaign encouraging protests against high taxes and bans on smoking in public.

The I Deserve to Be Heard campaign involves slipping small cards into cigarette packets directing smokers to a website headlined: "It’s time to tell the government you've had enough."



The Federal Government has said it will fight the industry's campaign "tooth and nail".

"We believe we are on very strong legal grounds," she said in Sydney.

"We're not going to have 'big tobacco' scaring us with legal action.

"We want to make sure that the glamour that might have been attached to smoking in the past is dead and gone."

The Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 is due to be introduced during the winter sitting of Parliament, after a 60-day period for public comment on the draft legislation.

If all goes to plan, the changes would come into effect on January 1, 2012 and all products on sale will be required to comply with the new laws within six months.

Ms Roxon said the new packaging had been consumer tested on smokers around the country and found to be the least appealing.

"We want to get the Australian smoking rate down to 10 per cent by 2018," she said.

Ms Roxon said tobacco companies would be able to use certain markings to stop counterfeit issues.

"We might be breaking ground but we are on firm ground and others will follow us," Ms Roxon said.