Ms LIESL TESCH (Gosford) (15:37): I move:

That this House:

(1) Commends the Government on establishing the e-cigarette inquiry into the regulatory framework governing e-cigarettes and their prevalence among children and young people.

(2) Acknowledges the Government's commitment to reducing e-cigarette-related harm in young people with a further funding injection of $6.8 million to crack down on the sale of illegal vapes and increase support for vape-addicted young people.

(3) Notes that by working with the Federal Government to introduce stronger reforms, it commends the Government for taking strong and decisive action to stamp out e-cigarette-related harm through stronger legislation, enforcement, education and support.

Mr NATHAN HAGARTY (Leppington) (15:56): By leave: I contribute to debate on the motion. I congratulate the member on bringing this important debate to the House. As someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I remember a time when smoking cigarettes was prevalent. Governments across all three levels have done immense work and spent billions of dollars to make a huge impact. We have effectively eradicated cigarette smoking among young people but, sadly, we are now seeing the rise of vapes. When I travel throughout Leppington, I see temporary vapes scattered around and it is disturbing. As members have said during the debate, we do not know the impact of vapes. Chemicals and all kinds of things are thrown inside of vapes. I support the motion, especially the fact that the Government is establishing an e-cigarette inquiry that will look into the regulatory framework. It is important that there are laws that protect against this.

We know the dangers of smoking, but we do not yet know the full dangers of e-cigarettes and vapes. Just like we saw with the introduction of cigarettes decades ago, cigarette manufacturers and tobacco manufacturers are trying to make it "cool". They are appealing to the youth. As a father of two young children, it concerns me. Being a non-smoker and seeing the effects that smoking has had on my mum and dad, I would not want to see another generation go through that. To expand on that, my dad is on a puffer and a ventilating machine. He has to use them every four hours, which of course is the result of lifelong smoking. That has an obvious impact on my family and a major impact on the health budget. We do not want to see that continue with the next generation.