The main shopping district of the Australian city of Melbourne is no longer allowed to smoke. A new ban on smoking around the Bourke Street Mall has taken effect in the metropolis of Victoria.
Anyone who gets infected there on sidewalks, streets or trams in the future, a penalty of 100 Australian dollars (about 62 €) expected, said the city council. This makes the area around Bourke Street Mall the eleventh smoke-free zone in Melbourne.
Besides, the whole city is not allowed to throw away cigarette butts. If caught, it must pay up to 660 Australian dollars (about 400 euros) penalty.
The new law does not yet apply to e-cigarettes, but an extension of the ban will be examined, said the city administration. The ban should protect the 60,000 visitors to the shopping street from health damage caused by secondhand smoke, said the mayor of the city, Sally Capp.
The State of Victoria had already banned smoking outside of restaurants in August 2017.