The court's decision was welcomed by health groups, although this was accompanied by warnings that the end of glitzy packaging would result in lower prices as tobacco companies try to attract a new generation of smokers. Among the prominent healthcare executives who called on Canberra to go further was Edmund Bateman, founder and managing director of Primary Health Care, which runs a nationwide network of medical centres. Mr Bateman described plain packaging as ''the one good public health thing that's been done in Australia in the past decade''. But he added: ''I hear what they [the government] say about cigarettes - that it's the only licensed product that actually is designed to kill. So what they're agreeing to is to have a product that's licensed available to people to kill themselves. I think the answer is they should get the courage to ban them.'' Mark Fitzgibbon, chief executive of health insurer NIB, agreed. ''If I was voting in Parliament, I'd support it. We know that it's so detrimental to people's health. People say, 'Well, what's next, beer?' But the difference is, you can have one or two beers; it may even improve your health. There's some science to say that. But any amount of tar in your lungs is detrimental to your health. It's poison.'' But Ms Roxon said this morning the government was not planning to ban tobacco products.

''When I was the health minister I had primary students writing to me all the time saying, 'It's so dangerous, let's do that,''' Ms Roxon said. ''I used to write back to them and say that's something your generation has to take up. ''Tobacco control has always been a step at a time." Big tobacco's protestations that black market sales would grow or a price war be sparked as a consequence of the High Court decision were ''nonsense'', she said. ''Their own research has to have a very big question mark hanging over it,'' Ms Roxon said. ''They've spent decades as an industry misusing and misleading data." Mr Fitzgibbon also said health insurers should be allowed to put a loading on premiums for smokers. ''The idea of charging everyone the same price irrespective of their age and underlying health status is fair, but it shouldn't mean we can't penalise people for behaviours which clearly lead to health problems.''

Rohan Mead, group managing director of healthcare and insurance giant Australian Unity, described cigarettes as ''the only readily available recreational drug for which there is no safe dose''. While not endorsing calls for a ban, he said plain packaging was only a small step and further measures should be considered to reduce harm. Anne Jones, who heads the group Action on Smoking and Health, said cheap cigarettes from Germany and China were already undercutting the price of name brands. This was likely to increase with plain packaging because consumers would turn to cheaper products if they could not differentiate between brands. The tobacco industry has also forecast price cuts because of what it said would be a rise in cheap black market cigarettes. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said that when tobacco companies talked about price cutting, they were targeting young people. "Young people are price sensitive, so they are admitting that their business model is about recruiting new, young smokers." Her spokesman said there was no plan to ban smoking.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton was delighted with the decision, but said the AMA had not gone as far as calling for a ban on smoking. "But when half of smokers die as a result of their smoking, we want to stop the recruitment of the next generation and hope that the habit of smoking dies out," he said. The High Court ruled plain packaging did not involve the acquisition of manufacturers’ property in the form of brands and logos. It has not yet published its reasons. The companies will have to pay millions of dollars in legals costs. Ms Roxon urged companies to drop efforts to curb plain packaging. The laws are challenged in the United Nations’ international trade court and the World Trade Organisation. British American Tobacco said it was "extremely disappointed" by the court’s decisions. But spokesman Scott McIntyre insisted the company would comply with the law. Loading

With AAP and Jessica Wright

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