Preventative Health Minister Failing the Basics

Media Release | 21 October 2025

Libby Mettam
Shadow Health Minister

Smoking, vaping, illicit drug use and excessive drinking levels have all increased among West Australians in the past two years.

Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam said the startling facts revealed in the 2024-25 Health Department Annual Report demonstrated the Cook Government had failed to
make any meaningful gains in health prevention.

“Over the past two years, we have seen significant increases in the percentage of West
Australians who smoke, vape, are overweight and drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol,”
she said.

“The diets of West Australians have also become unhealthier over the past two years
and as a consequence more are overweight.”

Ms Mettam said Roger Cook’s Labor Government was not only failing to ensure our
hospitals can provide for WA patients, but was failing to stop them getting sick in the
first instance.

“Premier Cook need look no further than his own government’s appalling record in
preventative health to see why more West Australians are presenting at our hospitals,”
she said.

“He should stop blaming the elderly, the Federal Government, the flu season, a COVID
hangover or anything else for our health crisis and start insisting his Minister for
Preventative Health do her job.

“When Premier Cook created his merry-go-round of health ministers earlier in the year,
including the inaugural Minister for Preventative Health Sabine Winton, he said ‘taking a
team approach to health will enable us to pursue my government's vision for Western
Australia to be the healthiest state in the nation’.

“It’s clearly not working.”

A comparison between data given in this year’s WA Health Department Annual Report
to that given in the corresponding 2022/23 report shows:

• The percentage of Western Australians using illicit drugs has gone from 10% to
  12%.
• The percentage of Western Australians smoking has increased from 10% to 12%.
• The percentage of Western Australians who have vaped at least once has
  jumped from 15% to 24%.The percentage of Western Australians who drink alcohol at levels that put them
  at risk of harm has increased from 30% to 35%.
• The percentage of Western Australians who are overweight has increased from
  74% to 76%.
• The percentage of adults who met the recommended minimum daily intake of
  fruit decreased from 41% to 36%.
• The percentage of adults who met the recommended minimum daily intake of
  vegetable decreased from 8% to 5%.
• The number of adult Western Australians who take illicit drugs is now the same
  as the number of Western Australians who smoke.
  ‍

Media Contact: Graham Mason | 0419 194 792

‍