Tobacco sponsorship to return?

The NSW Government is understood to be exploring ways to bypass federal tobacco advertising bans and allow tobacco companies to sponsor high-profile sport, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The newspaper reports that a clause allowing tobacco brands to sponsor horse, motor and greyhound racing in New South Wales has been inserted into new anti-tobacco legislation. If the legislation is passed it will allow tobacco companies in NSW to circumvent Federal law which does not ban sport sponsorship, but rather the advertising that promotes a brand's association with a sporting code. Horse or motor races, for example, could be named after specific brands, such as the Peter Jackson Stakes or given more generic titles such as the Imperial Tobacco Stakes.
The Chief Executive of the Cancer Council NSW, Andrew Penman, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was "gobsmacked" by the clause which would put Australia in breach of international conventions curtailing the marketing of tobacco and put NSW on a collision course with the federal Department of Health.
Penman stated âhow on earth did it find its way into legislation that purports to protect children from tobacco? Tobacco getting involved in glamorous sports does nothing to protect children," adding that public health groups would legally challenge a return to tobacco sponsorships.
Australia led the world in banning advertising for cigarette brands at sporting events as of 1992, although the Formula One Grand Prix race was exempted until 2006.