Australia

This was an appeal by the tobacco companies from an earlier decision upholding the decision of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal that commercial television licensees had breached s100(5A) of the Broadcasting and Television Act 1942 (Cth) (see: Re Benson and Hedges Company Pty Limited; Rothmans of Pall Mall (Australia) Limited & Ors v the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal [1984] FCA 292 (10 October 1984)). Section 100(5A) prohibited a licensee from broadcasting or televising smoking, cigarette or cigarette tobacco advertisements. (Note: the Broadcasting and Television Act has since been repealed).

The Tribunal had decided that four licensees had breached s100 (5A) by broadcasting tobacco advertisements, relevantly: an advertisement for Redhead Matches ("Strike Up a Friendship") which concerned the use of matches to light cigarettes; a Benson & Hedges Cricket ("Field of Battle") advertisement; an advertisement for The Australian Ballet, sponsored by Benson & Hedges; an advertisement for the film "Aussie Assault" which featured the "Winfield" name; and a broadcast of the 1982 Rugby League Grand Final, which showed billboards with "Anyhow have a Winfield 25s ..." in the background.

The applicant companies applied to the Court for judicial review of the Tribunal's decision. Fox J, at first instance, dismissed the application (apart from one part of one of the advertisements). In this decision, the Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed the companies' appeal with costs.