Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Illicit Tobacco Enforcement Modernisation and Other Measures) Bill 2026

Ms STEGGALL (Warringah) (16:56): I agree that we need to fix this problem and take action on the illegal trade of tobacco and vapes, but I strongly disagree with the contribution of the member for Calare and the coalition in this place. The hypocrisy is staggering when claiming that it is all the fault of excise that has brought us to the crime crisis that we have.

For the benefit of listeners, I will point out that tobacco excise in Australia has gone up under both sides of the major parties whenever they have been in government. In fact it was in 2013, under a coalition government, that the Commonwealth accelerated the tax trajectory by legislating a series of four annual 12½ per cent tobacco excise increases. My understanding is the member for Calare was a member of the coalition at the time.

In 2016, the government announced a further multi-year plan for 12½ per cent annual tobacco excise increases running through to 2020, and then under Labor in 2023-26 we've had another round of legislated five per cent annual tax increases over three years. What we have now is all of the proponents who have gotten us to this situation purporting—without any evidence before this House, I might add.

I haven't heard any speaker bring any data that suggests that, by lowering the excise, you will get into a price war with crime and somehow you are going to have legitimate and legal tobacco sales that are going to price beat illegal tobacco which will end up with people choosing to buy legal tobacco and thus revenue will be raised through the excise. What we've seen in other jurisdictions, like in Canada, where the excise has been dropped is a significant increase in smoking rates, which comes at a cost through increased health consequences.

What we need to do is make sure that there is strong enforcement. For that reason, I do support the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Illicit Tobacco Enforcement Modernisation and Other Measures) Bill 2026, but I am calling on the government to do more. I agree; this is a huge problem in our communities, and there has to be a way to do more.

I've talked to a local constituent who tells me that illegal tobacco is $9 a pack, and she has no idea what she's smoking. She has no idea what rubbish is in it. When I hear the previous speaker from the coalition even talking about legalising the sale of vapes again—my goodness.

Is there no limit to the harm you want to do to Australians? I look at the students that come here, and we know the impact getting sucked into vapes and smoking has on young people. I and the community in Warringah have deep, deep concerns about the resurgence of tobacco and smoking.

It's a massive public health issue, and the association with vaping and crime extends deep into every community in Australia. The bill seeks to amend the Customs Act and Proceeds of Crime Act to uplift the deterrence of criminal conduct with respect to the unlawful importation of tobacco to Australia and to support more effective enforcement and prosecutions.

I think this is an important bill. It's the most significant modernisation of Australia's illicit tobacco customs enforcement framework since 2018, and I support the central intent of this bill to strengthen enforcement—more effective penalties, improved seizure and forfeiture arrangements, strengthened investigative powers and greater capacity for law enforcement agencies to pursue the proceeds of crime.

It's what we need to work towards stamping out illegal tobacco importation. We know enforcement alone isn't going to solve this problem. It has to sit alongside a public health education campaign, quitting support, coordinated state and federal enforcement, transparent oversight and proper resourcing.

When I was talking to my local constituent who was telling me she was choosing the $9 illegal cigarettes, I pointed out the risks that she was taking—that she was supporting organised crime. She hadn't even thought about it that way. So we need a campaign to remind people of just what it is that they are choosing when they are supporting illegal cigarettes and vapes.

Along with my community, I've been steadfast in calling for stronger controls to control illegal tobacco sales. In 2023, I raised concerns that illegal vape shops were popping up in Warringah. Parents remain deeply worried about vapes in schools and shops operating close to schools.

I called for stronger action on importation, disposable vapes and retail proximity to schools, and government assured us that they were doing that. That comes back to a question of changing zoning requirements—for example, so that convenience stores that are going to sell these products cannot just get approval from local government to open in certain locations.

In 2024, I again spoke in support of vaping reforms—the regular concern raised by Warringah parents, carers and educators about young people accessing vapes and the need for strong national legislation to ban importation, marketing, distribution and commercial possession and the much greater marketing or information campaign for people to be aware of and understand the dangers and the toxicity and the risks of vaping.

Some of these concerns have been addressed by ramping up enforcement on illegal tobacco, but it has been a piecemeal approach, and the widespread availability of illegal vapes and illegal cigarettes remains incredibly concerning. We have a great track record in Australia of building one of the most successful tobacco control systems in the world. We have established plain packaging, advertising restrictions, public health campaigns, excise settings, quit support and strong regulation.

That is a great achievement, but that success is absolutely being challenged by the fast-growing illicit tobacco and vaping market. The rapid rise in vaping among young Australians is particularly alarming. NSW Health reports that 16- to 24-year-olds have the highest vaping rates of any age group, at around 20 per cent, and according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2023, 28 per cent of 14- to 17-year-olds had tried an e-cigarette, almost triple the rate from just before, in 2019.

More than 87 per cent of 14- to 17-year-olds who used nicotine e-cigarettes obtained them without a prescription. More significantly, tobacconists are popping up within 300 metres of schools, all over the place in our areas and communities. Products that should never be in the hands of children are being sold through ordinary-looking shopfronts, often with little regard for the law.

That is unacceptable. There are vapes for sale at pocket-money prices. I'm regularly contacted by parents and carers whose teenage kids are addicted to illegal vapes.

Parents feel powerless. One local mother described it as being 'traumatic to be battling an addiction and facing dealers at every street corner'. At a local government level, they can't do anything to deter tobacconists from opening close to schools in their area.

So we need some strong leadership and some change to town planning rules, and that comes back to working with state jurisdictions around where we can and can't have these stores. We have to make sure we deter tobacconists from opening up. I'm supportive of the government's response to the illegal tobacco trade.

Legislative reform to tackle illegal tobacco remains important to disrupt the criminal supply chains, making illegal tobacco less profitable. I also support the second reading amendment moved by the member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan. We cannot ignore years of enforcement failures and then claim that reducing tobacco excise is the solution.

Again I say: we haven't actually seen any data or any PBO costings that would even suggest the link that is being proposed by many members in this place. Tobacco excise has been a critical part of Australia's successful public health approach to reducing smoking. There is no good reason to cut tobacco excise at this point in time.

Rather than making smoking cheaper, we need to make illegal tobacco harder to obtain and less profitable to sell. Making smoking cheaper will just kick the can down the road and make sure we have greater rates of smoking, and we will then pay the price of a public health crisis. The priority must be stronger enforcement, effective retail licensing and meaningful penalties that deter criminal activity.

But legislative reform for enforcement is only part of the solution, so I urge the minister and the government to consider the four areas that need to have more focus. Commonwealth, states and territories need a nationally coordinated enforcement model. We need stronger controls on retail locations, ensuring that tobacco and vape shops are not opening up near schools.

We need urgent, sustained public health advertising and education in schools and workplaces about nicotine addiction and vaping harms, particularly for young people—they simply do not think that vaping is as bad as smoking, and that is horrendous. We need better public information on enforcement outcomes and illegal sales. We must make it harder to sell illegal tobacco and vapes and harder to profit from it, and we have to make it easier for young people and all people to quit.

The bill provides better tools to disrupt criminal tobacco importation and recover criminal proceeds. Those powers need to be backed up by adequate resources for the Australian Border Force, the Australian Federal Police and other relevant enforcement agencies. Stronger penalties will only deter criminal conduct if there is a credible prospect of detection, prosecution and enforcement.

The measure of success must be fewer illegal products on our streets, fewer young people becoming addicted and less money flowing to organised crime. Without these complementary measures, we risk strengthening enforcement at the border while leaving serious gaps in the domestic market. Australia has demonstrated that strong, evidence based tobacco regulation works.

We have reduced smoking rates, protected public health and saved lives through decades of reform. The growth of the illegal tobacco and vaping market demands a stronger and more coordinated response. Every day the illegal retailers continue operating, more young people are exposed to nicotine addiction and criminal networks continue to profit.

Schools should not have to compete with illegal vape sellers operating just down the road, and communities should not have to live with the consequences of organised crime exploiting gaps in our regulatory system. I support the bill, but I urge the government to go further. In particular, we should be banning any donations from these harmful industries in relation to tobacco or vaping.

I note that the National Party remains the party that accepts donations from the tobacco industry, so that puts in question a number of things. I urge the government to be tough and to continue with sensible reforms.