Powerful industry group will "fight" Aussie state's plan to raise smoking age

An Australian state government will face opposition over its proposal to raise the smoking age to 21 or 25, with the region's powerful hospitality industry planning to challenge the bid.

In December last year, the Tasmanian government announced its plan to increase the minimum smoking age from 18 to 21 or 25 as part of Health Minster Michael Ferguson's Healthy Tasmania Five Year Strategic Plan, which aims to make the region the healthiest state in Australia.

Despite submissions on the proposal only closing on Friday, Tasmanian Hospitality Association (THA) general manger, Steve Old, claimed the government had already made up its mind.

Old said some club and bar owners around the state were already being told to prepare for the change and would be expected to police any breaches of the new law.

"We have already been advised by a member that they have had officers from the (Tasmanian) Health Department come into their venue and advise that the legal age for purchasing cigarettes will change to 21 and it will be up to venue operators to police who is smoking around their venues," Old told News Corp on Friday.

"To my knowledge there has been no regulatory impact study done on this issue and there has been absolutely no consultation with us (THA) as the peak body for hospitality in the state."

But Old said Tasmania's hospitality industry, which along with tourism forms the backbone of the state's economy, providing more than a billion U.S. dollars in sales and services income in 2012, will "fight the issue hard" as it was unreasonable to expect businesses to enforce the new minimum smoking age.

"Many hospitality venues around the state don't sell cigarettes but we understand will be asked to police who is using the product under new laws," he said on Friday.

"This is ridiculous and one that operators of the 2000 hospitality businesses in the state will simply ... be receptive too." Endit