On this day in 1991, the Sunday Canberra Times' front page featured a story about the Australian Medical Association's war on tobacco.
"We've got to win this war against tobacco. It's a war for the children," the national president of the AMA, Dr Bruce Shepherd, said the day prior.
Dr Shepherd and his deputy, Dr Brendan Nelson, were launching an association campaign aimed at excluding the tobacco industry from sport.
The campaign built on pressure from doctors on the federal government to introduce an effective ban on the incidental advertising of tobacco on television, particularly at sporting and cultural events sponsored by tobacco companies.
Dr Shepherd said there was no limit to the money the association was prepared to spend in its battle against the tobacco industry.
"We'll just pour it in until it stops," he said.
"You can justify alcohol in moderation. There is some evidence that alcohol in moderation increases the level of the good cholesterol and helps guard against heart attacks, probably strokes too.
"But there is no justification for having the first cigarette. It starts to poison you - the very first one starts the damage."
He said there was concern about children aged nine, 10 and 11 who may become addicted, and that 4 per cent of Australian doctors at the time still smoked.
That weekend's Australian Grand Prix would broadcast a pro-tobacco message to Australia.
