News

19 August 2026

Thank you, Madam Deputy. Speaker, and I rise on this really important topic. I'm so deeply concerned about the resurgence of tobacco, of smoking, such a massive public health issue. And of course of the association with vaping and crime. So, this bill is seeking to do three things protecting public health, protecting communities from organised crime and protecting honest small businesses from being undercut by illegal operators. So, Australia has spent decades building one of the most successful tobacco control systems in the world through plain packaging, advertising restrictions, public health campaigns, excise settings, quit support and strong regulation. And that's a great achievement. But that success is absolutely being challenged by this fast-growing illicit tobacco and vaping market. And I can't help but feel that the government has been asleep on the wheel on this one. We've seen this coming over the last few years, and there it is taking too long for, for the government at state and federal to respond to this crisis. The illicit tobacco trade is not a small side hustle. It is a major criminal market. The Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette Commissioner has estimated that illicit tobacco made up around 55 per cent of the total tobacco market in 24-25, with an estimated value of $5.6 billion and excise revenue evaded so lost in the range of $7.7 billion to $11.8 billion. Those figures should really stop us in our tracks. It's money that should be supporting public services, flowing instead to organised crime.

Now, when you think of those kind of numbers, 7.7 billion to 11.8 billion, that's a huge investment in law enforcement and other methods to try and make sure we crack down on the illicit tobacco market. So, it's an organised crime issue, and it is not a victimless offence. Profits from illegal tobacco fuel violence, intimidation, firebombings and risk undermining decades of tobacco control. That's why I support the central intent of this bill stronger offences, stronger penalties, stronger proceeds of crime tools and stronger enforcement powers targeted at those who import manufacture, possess, sell and profit from illegal tobacco sales. But why has it taken this long? I just don't understand the delay. If there was ever an area of urgency for the government, surely this level of organised crime and lost revenue should compel fast action. And we know enforcement alone isn't going to solve this problem. It must sit alongside public health education, quitting support, coordinated state and federal enforcement, transparent oversight and proper resourcing. And I think all of our communities are witnessing this.

It's an issue directly relating to public health in Warringah. I've already spoken in this place about the concern from parents, carers, educators in Warringah about vaping and illegal tobacco products being too accessible to young people. I don't understand why these stores are still being opened. Why? Why the implementation of stronger controls has not happened in 2023, I raised concerns that illegal vape shops were popping up in Warringah, with parents deeply worried about vapes in schools and shops operating close to schools. I also called for stronger action on importation, disposable vapes and retail proximity to schools and government assured us that they were doing that. In 2024, I again spoke in support of vaping reforms, noting the regular concern raised by Warringah parents, carers and educators about young people accessing vapes and the need for strong national legislation to ban the importation, marketing, distribution and commercial possession and the much greater marketing or information campaign for people to be aware of the dangers and the toxicity and the risks of vaping. That has still not really happened. Those concerns have only become more visible throughout our community enforcement action across Warringah has escalated in recent months, but again, it is piecemeal.

In March 2026, the Mallee Observer reported that five stores in Dee Why had been closed in under a month because of illicit tobacco sales, with New South Wales health inspectors seizing hundreds of thousands of illicit cigarettes and thousands of illegal vapes across New South Wales enforcement actions. Northern Beaches Advocate reported describing local concern about young people moving in and out of shops to buy vapes and residents saying the problem has become an open secret. And I agree they're there. These stores are there for all of us to witness and yet they don't seem to be closed down. The reflects why many parent parents already know the problem. The legal framework says young people should not be buying these products. But the lived reality has been so much messier. A product that should not be in the hands of children is too often being sold through ordinary looking shopfronts. How are they still there? The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that younger people are more likely to use e-cigarettes than older people, and that people in the most disadvantaged areas are among those more likely to use e-cigarettes. And yet we don't have the campaigns explaining the dangers. Australia has made extraordinary progress in reducing smoking, but that progress can't be taken for granted and I would argue is directly under attack nationally.

Daily tobacco smoking fell around 12 per cent in 2016 to 8.3 per cent by 2223 and daily e-cigarette use increased 0.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent over the same period. Among young amongst young people, the increase in vaping has been particularly alarming. The AIHW reported that in 2020 223, around 28 per cent of 14 to 17 -year-olds had used an e-cigarette, almost triple the rate from just 2019. And among 18 to 24 -year-olds, around 49 per cent had used an e-cigarette. More than 87 per cent of 14 to 17 -year-olds who used nicotine e-cigarettes obtained them without prescription. In New South Wales, tobacco smoking has fallen to the lowest rate recorded, but vaping remains a serious challenge, with New South Wales Health reporting that 16 to 24 -year-olds have the highest vaping rates of any age group, at around 20 per cent, and many, many do not understand the toxicity and the dangers of vaping. The amount of substances that are contained within those vapes. The problem is therefore not just illegal tobacco in isolation. It is a collision of three trends: a large and profitable illicit tobacco market, a youth vaping market that has normalised nicotine use for a new generation and organised crime exploiting the gaps between Commonwealth, state and territory enforcement.

So, some argue that Australia's high tobacco excise has helped create the illicit market and that penalties alone will not solve the problem. I think the enforcement question, and especially at the borders, has to be looked at and properly resourced. Price is one of the most effective public health levers to reduce smokers. If we respond to organised crime by making legal tobacco cheaper and easier to access, we risk handing a policy victory to the very industry whose products cause preventable disease and death. The answer is not to weaken public health. The answer is to make crime less profitable enforcement more coordinated and quitting support more accessible. In practical terms, this bill does four important things. First, it increases penalties for illicit tobacco offences, including importing, possessing, buying, selling, producing and manufacturing illicit tobacco. Second, it creates stronger offences for large-scale illicit tobacco activity connected to organised crime. Third, it expands proceeds of crime and unexplained wealth tools so that law enforcement can better target the profits, not just the product. And fourth, it enables enhanced investigative powers for serious telecommunications, interception warrants in appropriate cases. This is all in the right direction. If organised crime groups can treat penalties as a cost of doing business, then the setting is just not right. The law is not doing its job.

If illegal retailers can reopen under another name, or if profits can be hidden faster than products can be seized, then enforcement just becomes a game of whack a mole and is useless. This bill is no silver bullet, but it will mitigate some part of the problem if it's effectively implemented. And that's a big if. Moving forward, the Commonwealth and state and territories need a nationally coordinated enforcement model. Criminal networks are importing tobacco through national supply chains, moving it between states, selling through suburban shopfronts and hiding behind changed company names after a regulator shuts one down. That means each level of government owns a small piece of the puzzle and organised crime slips through the gaps. Stronger powers mean little, little unless agencies have the people, the data systems and investigative capacity to use them.

The illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner's role is important because it's designed to provide strategic leadership and a data-driven approach across governments. And this is where modern technology will be of assistance. Public health is also an essential piece of solving the problem. Enforcement must be paired with prevention and information. Young people need clear education about nicotine addiction and vaping harms. Smokers need practical quitting support. Communities need confidence that the goal is not simply to protect federal revenue, but harm minimisation and health outcomes for the community. So, on balance, this bill responds to a real and worsening problem, but it doesn't solve every driver of illicit tobacco and it gives law enforcement stronger tools to disrupt organised crime and protect the integrity of Australia's tobacco control system, but only if properly implemented and resourced.

So, I support this bill because communities like Warringah want practical action. Parents want to know that children are not being targeted with addictive products. Schools want support, not another wave of nicotine product in bathrooms or playgrounds. Honest retailers want a level playing field and the community expects that organised crime should not be able to build $1 billion market out of addiction and poor health outcomes. Australia should not go backwards on tobacco control. We should make the lawful healthy choice the easy choice. Do not sell addictive products to children. Do not launder crime through corner stores and do not ask honest communities to pay the price. So, I plead with the government to urgently get a clear, impactful advertising campaign to inform Australians and the risks and harms of vaping. You need to keep that information out and education tools to every generation. And this younger generation needs it urgently.

So many are simply ignorant of the toxic harm of vapes for those who use them, for those who are impacted by secondary proximity, but also the residue that falls on every surface where a vape is utilised and extends its harm to third party contact. How many in this place even know that vapes create third party contact harm? That if someone was to enter a house or a bathroom or a bedroom or anywhere where vape has been smoked previously, a residue remains on the surface that is toxic. And so, if a child or another family members happens to touch that surface, put it anywhere near their mouth or ingest it, they are then at risk. That is the level of toxicity of vaping. And we have not seen any urgent education or communication campaign around these harms. So please, I plead with the government, get proactive about this, do more.