GLASSON:       Good morning ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to this year's presentation of the national tobacco scoreboard.  This morning we reveal which state or territory has done most work over the past year in stopping people smoking.

It's been a tradition for the last ten years to present the much anticipate national tobacco scoreboard to coincide with World No Tobacco Day, which is tomorrow.

The AMA and the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, or ACOSH, are jointly sponsored the scoreboard.  This initiative draws attention to progress or lack of progress on tobacco controls, and compares the performance of state and territory governments.

The state or territory that has done the best over the past twelve months to combat smoking is rewarded, while the state or territory that has done the worst is shamed.  Now the infamous dirty ashtray award.

On that basis, this year's winner is indeed an achiever.  The AMA ACOSH national tobacco scoreboard winner for 2004 is the Northern Territory, with a top score of fifty-seven points.

                           its proposed people who work in that environment - that our young people - young people - our boys and girls who sit behind the bars and provides us with waitressing services - they are being subjected to long-term health implications from passive smoking.  We have to protect those people.  Our young people.  And make sure that obviously in ten to twenty years time, or longer, they don't end up with the consequences of passive smoking.

So that's another very important reason why we need to get this legislation in place - to protect the workers who work in these sort of industries.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen.  Thank you very much indeed, and I congratulate Northern Territory.  And I commiserate with Tasmania, but I know with the clean air in Tasmania it'll all change under a new team.

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