| Nicole told to butt out
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NICOLE Kidman, who infuriated anti-smoking groups by lighting up at a press conference last year, is facing renewed calls to quit - at least in public.
The Hollywood star's nomination by NSW this week as Australian of the Year, coupled with her public puffing, sends the message to young women that it's OK to smoke, lobbyists warned today.
"Her public smoking does reinforce the wrong message, that smoking and glamour and success go together for young women," Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia chief executive Ann Jones said.
"I would hope that, with this latest award, she's conscious of how her smoking does affect young people," Ms Jones said.
"She's in a very unique position now to contribute to improving the health of women, not only Australian women but worldwide."
The 35-year-old Oscar winner was named NSW Australian of the Year on Tuesday. That places her in the running for the prestigious national gong, which Centrebet has her odds on to win.
However in May 2003, Kidman, who campaigns against breast cancer, smoked through a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival while promoting her film Dogville.
The film's director, Lars Von Trier, sitting beside her, quipped: "Oh Nicole, don't do that, you promised."
A year later, an Australian government-commissioned report predicted smoking could soon overtake breast cancer as the nation's biggest killer of women.
Already more than 6,000 Australian women die from smoking-related illness each year. Over one-fifth of Australian women are smokers.
"There's a great opportunity for Nicole to improve the health of Australian women by actually not smoking in such a public way," Ms Jones said.
"Why are young women taking up smoking? We have too many pro-smoking messages in films that have glamourised smoking and associated smoking with success and glamour and independence - all of the things Nicole embodies."
The Cancer Council Australia's anti-tobacco chair, Andrew Ellerman, said Kidman had sent the wrong message when she "quite clearly and publicly flaunted her smoking when it was quite unnecessary at those press conferences."
"At the very least, you'd have to say that it'd be much more responsible for her to not smoke in public, if not to make a decision to quit."
- Herald Sun | |
