Actually the taxes don't come anywhere near covering the costs of Healthcare in this country.
But yes if everyone quits, Healthcare costs come down markedly and productivity in the workplace goes up markedly as well. Funny that!
"THE federal government says its anti-smoking measures are likely the reason for a $341 million fall in tobacco excise in the last few months of the last financial year.
The final budget outcome report for 2011/2012, released this morning, updated figures issued in May.
It shows the government collected $5.45 billion in tobacco excise in 2011/12, down from the $5.79 billion Treasury estimated in the May budget.
"The figures demonstrate that even since the budget we're collecting less excise and customs duty on those items," Finance Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Canberra.
"The government's campaign is the right thing to do and it may well be having an effect.
"Finance ministers probably just look at the numbers rather than talk about the public health reasons but you would think there would be some effect."
New limits on the number of duty-free cigarettes that can be brought into the country came into effect at the start of this month.
Federal parliament late last year passed world-first laws requiring all tobacco products to be sold in drab olive-brown packs from December 2012.
Labor also had hiked the tobacco tax by 25 per cent in April 2010 to try and cut the smoking rate by forcing up prices."
"Health spending is eating up more and more of government budgets, both state and federal. In fact, government health spending grew 74% over the past decade, far faster than GDP, which grew by 46% above CPI.
Health spending started from a large base too. Australian governments are spending almost A$42 billion more this year in real terms on health than they did a decade ago, compared to A$28 billion more on welfare and A$22 billion more on education."
