Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (1.18 pm)—Let me start by saying that the Australian Greens welcome this legislation—the Excise Tariff Amendment (Tobacco) Bill 2010 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Tobacco) Bill 2010. It is a key recommendation of the Preventative Health Taskforce and has been endorsed by bodies such as Cancer Council Australia, the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Nursing Federation, the Heart Foundation and the International Union Against Cancer.

The Australian Greens have welcomed the Federal Government's decision to increase the tax on tobacco products by 25% and introduce plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products, describing it as important preventative health measures.

"This is a very positive step for the Government to take," Australian Greens health spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert said today.

"We support both the packaging changes and also the increase to taxes on cigarette and tobacco products."

The Australian Greens said today more needed to be done to tackle smoking particularly for young people, lower income groups and Aboriginal people.

"The Greens would be likely to support a significant increase in the price of cigarettes if funds raised by the increase were spent on prevention measures" said Senator Rachel Siewert, the Greens health spokesperson.

"We know price is the single most effective measure to address smoking, followed by well-run, well-funded, sustained public education programs.

Rachel spoke to Nine News about the possibility of a rise in cigarettes tax and the Government's proposed changes to the private health insurance rebate.

You can watch the video here.