CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr BOYCE (Flynn) (10:26): Any tobacco policy should be judged by one simple question: is it actually reducing smoking and keeping these products out of the hands of young people? We all want fewer Australians smoking, and we all want to stop young people from becoming addicted to nicotine. But good intentions are simply not enough.
This policy has to work and right now it isn't. If Labor's current approach was delivering real reductions in smoking and public health outcomes, we would all support it. But instead we've watched the illegal tobacco market explode.
An estimated $8 billion is lost in tobacco excise revenue alone, and while the Labor government strip veterans of necessary funding for their mental health, they've let criminals run off with the tobacco industry. Let me tell you what it looks like in my hometown in my electorate. There's an illegal tobacco operator openly selling black-market chop-chop in broad daylight.
They hand out business cards and advertise on the footpath. Everybody knows that this is happening. When the local people gather evidence and report it, what happens?
Well, the first time this shop was shut down, it reopened just weeks later. When the very same operator was reported again, my community was told that they would have to wait another four weeks for action. That's nine weeks in total for a repeat offender.
Meanwhile, the illegal trade continues. That is the problem with this government's approach. They are trying to deal with a major organised crime problem through a system designed around forms, inspections and bureaucracy.
And the criminals don't wait for paperwork. They are setting up shop in our towns, undermining legitimate businesses and making illegal tobacco more accessible. This is not achieving the public health outcome that anybody wants.
Tobacco consumption has not simply disappeared. Instead, a huge market share has been handed to criminal networks. They do not care about health warnings, product standards warnings or consumer safety.
The profits from these trades are following straight into organised crime networks with possible links to Islamic terrorist groups. We cannot regulate our way out of an organised crime problem. We need policies that recognise the reality of what is happening on the ground and are backed up by proper enforcement.
That is why the coalition's plan takes a different approach. At the heart, it's to cut tobacco excise by 80 per cent, and this tackles the black-market price advantage. Our plan includes a $200 million law enforcement surge to raid and shut down illegal operators.
My communities have done the right thing. They have reported this illegal activity, they have gathered the evidence, and they have raised their concerns. And now they deserve a government that will take action.
It is time to stop letting criminals fill the gap created by a failed policy, get serious about enforcement and restore control to our communities. Debate adjourned.