Key facts
- Australia's Opposition proposes an 80% cut to tobacco excise taxes.
- The plan aims to legalize vapes and nicotine pouches.
- The government claims the tax cut will lead to increased deaths.
- The Opposition argues high taxes have created a large illicit market and fueled organized crime.
- The proposal includes $200 million for crackdowns on illegal tobacco trade.
Australia's Opposition is proposing a significant reduction in tobacco taxes, aiming to curb the burgeoning illicit market which they claim is controlled by organized crime. The plan involves an 80% cut to the tobacco excise, alongside the legalization of vapes and nicotine pouches, supported by $200 million for enforcement against illegal trade.
Liberal MP Mary Aldred, who led the Coalition's review, stated that current high excise rates have created a "subsidy for organized crime" and driven consumers to illegal products. She cited a dramatic increase in the illicit market share, from 12% in 2017 to over half of all nicotine consumed, and linked this to a rise in organized crime violence, including firebombings. Aldred argued that lowering the price of legal cigarettes would encourage consumers to choose regulated products over illegal ones, thereby reducing profits for criminal enterprises.
Conversely, Australia's Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek criticized the proposal, asserting it "will kill people" and would likely increase smoking rates. Aldred countered this by pointing to recent upticks in smoking rates in states like Western Australia and New South Wales, suggesting current policies are failing. She also addressed concerns about vaping, emphasizing that all forms of tobacco combustion are harmful and that legal vapes could serve as a harm-minimization tool to help smokers quit.