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CANBERRA - Smokers will be told to butt out of more of Australia's most popular beaches as the nation continues to add to the list of public places closed to tobacco.
Victoria's Surf Coast Shire, south of Melbourne, is launching a pilot programme banning smoking on Torquay and
Jan Juc beaches, and, on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, similar bans may be imposed at beaches such as Altona and Williamstown.
If the pilot is successful, bans may be extended to other beaches.
The Victorian clampdown follows earlier action to stop smoking on Sydney's Bondi and Manly beaches, and at Bronte, Tamarama and Mosman. In Queensland, smoking is banned on all patrolled beaches.
The Sunday Herald Sun reported yesterday that 10 mayors of some of Victoria's largest councils, including Melbourne, Geelong, Bayside and Warrnambool, want the state Government to end ad hoc council restrictions by extending bans across a broad range of public places.
These include all outdoor dining venues, children's playgrounds, picnic areas, golf driving ranges, bus stops, and outside shopping centres.
The state Government is already reviewing anti-smoking laws, and its Health Department wants bans that will restrict public smoking to specially restricted zones in a bid to reach a targeted reduction of smoker numbers from 17.4 per cent to 14 per cent of the population by 2013.
Other possible measures included even tighter restrictions on outlets selling cigarettes, and possibly higher licence fees and limits on the number of outlets allowed to sell tobacco.
Victoria at present bans smoking in all enclosed public places, including clubs, pubs and restaurants, although it still allows tobacco in the "high-roller" areas of Melbourne's Crown Casino.
Similar exemptions exist in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. But otherwise Australia has some of the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws.
Federal legislation bans smoking in all Commonwealth buildings, public transport and buildings.
Tobacco is outlawed in all enclosed public areas in all states and territories except the Northern Territory.
Most states have imposed bans of varying severity on workplace smoking, and Tasmania this year began enforcing a ban on smoking in cars with passengers under the age of 18.
And Queensland - in addition to patrolled beaches and pubs, clubs, and restaurants - bans smoking in all commercial outdoor eating and drinking areas as well as large stadiums and children's playgrounds.