ACT Health Minister Katy Gallagher says the Government will eventually ban smoking in cars carrying children, but is first examining similar laws in other states.
NSW announced yesterday $250 on-the-spot fines for drivers caught smoking while in vehicles with children under the age of 16.
Ms Gallagher said the Government planned to include a ban on smoking in cars as part of a later tranche of legislation.
She said her department was monitoring similar laws in South Australia and Tasmania.
''We thought we'd wait a year to see how those laws were enforced, we'd see how hard it would be to police this offence and enforce it,'' Ms Gallagher said.
But she said research from South Australia had also shown that 70 per cent of smokers were not lighting up in their cars and the laws were effective at raising awareness in the community.
''My feeling on this is that we just need to move on it now,'' she said.
Opposition Health spokeswoman Jacqui Burke said she would support the ban in principle but criticised the Government for not consulting widely on its anti-smoking laws.
''We need to educate people but you have to bring the community with you ... We need more than legislation, you can't just club people into submission,'' she said.
Anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health chief Anne Jones urged ACT Legislative Assembly members to support a ban on smoking in cars.
''The evidence [is] that children are extremely vulnerable to exposure to second-hand smoke, particularly in an enclosed space like a car,'' Ms Jones said.
The Government has already tabled a batch of anti-smoking legislation which could come before the Assembly in its final sitting weeks.
The proposed laws would ban flavoured cigarettes and split packets, and remove ministerial exemption for tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
The main point of contention is a ban which forces retailers to remove or black-out displays of tobacco products at the point of sale.
Canberra's tobacconists have protested the display ban would hit their businesses hard.
Boomerang Tobacconist and Gifts owner John Grunberg said the ban could lead to Prohibition-like attitudes.
''I think it'll have a much bigger impact on the Government because of the revenue loss and they won't be able to keep tabs on [tobacco],'' Mr Grunberg said.
''If you don't have any displays how will you know what's happening?''
He said tobacco should be treated as a legitimate product and tobacconists had to be licenced to sell their wares.
''We sell a variety of tobacco from Cuban cigars to common cigarettes and we do a lot of expensive and high-end cigars. People come in and say, 'My brother's had a son or daughter', they want to get a couple of really nice cigars and a bottle of wine. All that could disappear.''
Ms Gallagher said it was inevitable there would be a point at which the industry and the Government could not reconcile their differences.
''I'm coming at it from the Health Minister's point of view rather than a business point of view,'' she said.