Roger Magnusson
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ABAC Complaints Panel fails to respond to complaint about Bundaberg Rum advertisement streamed at 3 year old
In an earlier post I showed photos of an Australian alcohol company, Diageo Australia, spamming my 3 year old daughter with an advertisement for Bundaberg Rum when she clicked on a YouTube video of Dora the Explorer. I saw this as an important public interest issue, so I decided to follow it up. Here’s what’s…
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ACCC fines Uncle Tobys for false and misleading statements
A reminder last week about the important role that consumer protection laws play in public health, and in holding – in this case – a food manufacturers accountable. Cereal Partners Australia, which owns the Uncle Tobys brand, has paid a penalty of $32,400 imposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for allegedly making false…
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Vodka and Vita Brits: will the alcohol industry successfully reverse the 10pm closing time for bottleshops, and other alcohol retail restrictions?
People sometimes say that the law is a blunt instrument. Roughly translated, what they often seem to mean is “I don’t like this law”. The comment holds a measure of truth. When the law tries to address social problems, it can sometimes have unintended consequences. For example, it may place regulatory burdens on innocent parties,…
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Lifetime achievement award for Professor Lawrence Gostin
Professor Lawrence Gostin, the Linda and Timothy O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University, and a longtime friend of Sydney Law School and the Centre for Health Governance, Law & Ethics, has been honoured by the American Public Health Association’s Law Section for “Lifetime Achievement in Public Health Law ”. Professor Gostin teaches a…
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Dancing on Christopher Hitchens’ grave? The tricky business of talking about consequences
A “pro-smoking blogger for the libertarian right” accuses me of “dancing on Christopher Hitchens’ grave”. And other stuff. Christopher Snowdon is a Research Fellow for the UK-based Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank that receives tobacco funding. He is an opponent of plain tobacco packaging, keeper of the pure flame of libertarianism etc. My sin…
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Bundaberg Rum and Dora the Explorer: the reality of alcohol advertising in Australia
My 3-year old daughter loves Dora the Explorer. She thinks that bossy little know-it-all, Dora, is really cool. She used to be frightened of The Swiper, but that changed as she grew older. Last night, I sat her down in front of a laptop and let her watch an episode of Dora on YouTube. Right…
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A tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like
Click on this link. It’s a tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like. It ought to be placed on the health curriculum of every school. Professor Stephen Leeder once wrote that public health is a “contest of raw political power” (S.R. Leeder, “Ethics in public health” Internal Medicine Journal 2004; 34:435-439). Basically, it’s…
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Mixed signals on e-cigarettes in NSW
In a move likely to upset the pro-vaping brigade, NSW has substantially strengthened the regulation of e-cigarettes. The Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment (E-cigarettes) Act 2015 (NSW) [“E-cigarette Amendment”], applies to e-cigarettes and e-cigarette accessories, regardless of whether they contain nicotine. It extends a number of existing tobacco controls to e-cigarettes. As first introduced, the government’s…
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Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce playing patsy to the tobacco industry, and what does this mean for Australia?
“From Ukraine to Uruguay, Moldova to the Philippines” – according to the New York Times – the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its affiliates “have become the hammer for the tobacco industry”. This is revealed by “interviews with government ministers, lobbyists, lawmakers and public health groups in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.” By…
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Those pesky Dutch are at it again
Those pesky Dutch are at it again. Rather than slashing investments in renewable energy, or preparing for the imminent threat of global cooling, a court in the low country has ruled that the Dutch government has a legal duty to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate disaster caused by excess greenhouse gas emissions. The…
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World Health Organisation publishes new report on overweight, obesity, diabetes and the law
This is the view when you look out the front gates of the World Health Organisation’s regional headquarters in Manila. A few blocks away, in the processed food aisles of the supermarket, parents are encouraged to purchase “nutrition power for kids”. The Western Pacific Region, which includes Australia, is home to 138 million adults with…
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It’s time for the government to stop shooting the messenger
The constant attacks on Professor Gillian Triggs represent attacks on the human rights and civil liberties that Australians value. Since 1986, the Human Rights Commission has been the watchdog for human rights for Australia. The President and her Commissioners are necessarily independent of government and have a duty to fearlessly advocate for human rights protections…
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Muzzling health and welfare professionals in the name of national security: Australia’s Border Force Act 2015
As law professors employed by one of Australia’s oldest law schools, we live and breathe law, and care about the rule of law. Frankly, however, we don’t care about it enough to stand by while government tries to muzzle dedicated professionals working in difficult conditions to protect the safety and dignity of children.
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Does Coca Cola have a role in delivering Pacific aid?
The Foreign Minister, The Hon. Julie Bishop MP has announced that Australia will partner with companies like Coca-Cola to distribute essential medicines to Pacific Island recipients of Australian aid. The Minister is right about one thing: tobacco and fizzy drink companies have strong distribution networks that reach into the remotest parts of low income countries…
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How can pacific island countries reduce the crippling burden of non-communicable diseases?
Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs) are some of the most geographically isolated in the world. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancers, tobacco-related diseases and diabetes are rampant in PICTs. These diseases are partly driven by loss of traditional diets, global trade in harmful products, and by a cluster of inter-related risk factors including tobacco use,…