Albury smokers have called for better-subsidised quit programs after the ALP confirmed it would raise the tobacco tax by 12.5 per cent three more times if elected.
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A packet of cigarettes could rise to $40 by 2020, with three-quarters of the cost going to taxes.
Albury smoker Russell Burge said while such a high cost would make him slow down, the revenue raised should support smokers wanting to quit.
“If they’re going to tax the living daylights out of it, why don’t they subsidise quit programs?” he said.
“If they want people to quit, why don’t they just take cigarettes off the board?”
Albury Wodonga Health respiratory care co-ordinator Maureen Klinberg agreed support was integral to smokers quitting.
“Each time cigarettes increase in price a few more people stop smoking,” Ms Klinberg said.
“While it sounds like a good idea I do hope that those people get the help that they need to stop smoking.”
Ms Klinberg said the culture of blame directed towards smokers often had a negative impact on patients going through rehab for lung cancer.
“For them it’s a really hard thing to have to deal with their end stage condition in the knowledge that if they hadn't smoked they wouldn't be in that condition,” she said.
According to the 2013 National National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the number of smokers in Australia dropped almost 12 per cent from 1991 to 2013.
Recent Cancer Council Victoria research found there was a 5 per cent drop in the number of smokers aged 12 to 15 between 2008 and 2014.
