Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026

Mr MATT SMITH (Leichhardt) (15:18): Illicit tobacco is no longer just a health issue. It is an organised crime issue, and, when we meet the dark tentacles of organised crime, we have to meet it. That is what this bill is all about.

This is about helping the legal tobacconist. I've met with many of them, and they are furious, as they should be. They are honest people doing the right thing.

People doing the right thing should not be worse off. People doing the wrong thing should be absolutely stopped. You would be angry too if your business was tracking along and another business doing exactly the same thing illegally opened up next to you.

These changes that we're making are to make it easier for the federal government to respond and take it all away. We need to look at the two key objectives. The first is, of course, risk versus reward.

The calculation for criminal actors is: what is this going to cost me if I get caught, and is it worth more than what it will cost me if I keep going? This is going to raise offence penalties to rebalance that to match the harm and the severity that these criminal organisations are inflicting upon our small-business owners and our communities. The other is making proceeds of crimes more difficult to get hold of, because, let's face it, this is generated by their need for profit.

Take the profits away and you take away the incentive. As such, this bill amends a list of other legislation to help expand law enforcement powers, investigate illegal tobacco related offending, raise the penalties and make sure that we can stamp this out. The laws being amended include the Customs Act 1901, the Excise Act 1901, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979.

By updating all of these laws, we can make this fight more effective. This is an important step to make sure that illicit tobacco has no place in this country and that legal shop owners can continue to peddle their wares. Since 2023-24, the Albanese Labor government has provided $346 million in funding to Australian Border Force to crack down on illicit tobacco and vaping products.

I spent a bit of time with Border Force. They are very active in my part of the world. They're some of the finest men and women in the country, working hard to protect our borders.

I know that they put this funding to good use. I know that they are taking out vapes and e-cigarettes when they're coming in. An additional $21.3 million was allocated in the 2025-26 budget to help coordinate these efforts.

By disrupting the flow of illegal cigarettes and e-cigarettes before they get into the country, we make it harder for them to be sold on the streets. We have enhanced detection and better disruption, and we will destroy that which we find. We have better connectivity between state, federal and local governments to make sure that we can identify and punish these people who break the law.

I have reported several illegal tobacconists in my area in the last couple of weeks, and the work is having results. Since January 2020, more than 14 million vaping products and accessories and over one billion illegal cigarettes have been seized and destroyed by Border Force. These are vapes and cigarettes that didn't get into the hands of our children.

These are vapes and cigarettes that didn't put profits back into the pockets of criminals. I'm pleased with the work the Queensland LNP state government has put in to support these laws. We have seen that when there is a proper crackdown 100 per cent of illegal tobacco disappears.

This requires all governments of all persuasions at all levels to respond. The coordination that I have seen firsthand in Cairns with the Cairns Regional Council, the Queensland LNP state government and this ALP Labor federal government has delivered results for my community. When they pop up, they get shut down.

The one across the road from me, in a florist, was shut down. With the ones that I have recently reported, I one day soon hope to be able to buy flowers or some other legal thing from there as well. These are important steps.

This is about keeping our children safe. This is about making sure that profits don't go into the wrong hands. This is about protecting small business.

Illegal tobacco has no place in our community. I am pleased to commend the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026 to the House.