The tobacco companies are presently running their nanny state ads complaining about plain paper packaging for cigarettes. You can find them on TV and in newspapers. The current approach taken by Governments towards the tobacco industry has many similarities to the methods deployed against firearms owners.

It is hoped that through a gradual process of restriction of access, numbers of users can be slowly reduced over time, perhaps to the point where the unacceptable activity is alltogether eliminated. Public safety arguments are applied to each group. Perhaps it is surprising that it was possible for electoral laws to be framed which prohibited tobacco companies from lobbying parties through donations. If such laws are valid under the Constitution, then what is there to prevent any particular group from being permitted to make donations to a party.

However, the tobacco industry does have some money, and therefore chooses to spend it on advertising. Perhaps it was necessary for the ads to have a political message to enjoy the limited freedom of expression implied in the Australain Constitution for political speech, since after all, they already banned advertising of their products.

In any event, it is somewhat ironic that the only lawful outlet of complaint which remains for the tobacco companies in the already present nanny state, is by way of political advertising.