Portfolio — 26 March 2026

The Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, Mr Julian Hill, moved second reading of the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026 in the House on 26 March, framing the legislation as a direct strike against organised crime networks that have come to dominate Australia's tobacco and e-cigarette markets [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s005].

The scale of the problem the Assistant Minister placed before the House is striking. Between 50 and 60 per cent of all tobacco products sold in Australia are now illicit, generating estimated annual profits of $4.1 to $6.9 billion for organised crime groups. Nearly 96 per cent of e-cigarette products sold are illegal, with a market value of approximately $1.6 billion [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s005].

Those figures establish the legislative case: existing penalties and investigatory tools have failed to make the trade sufficiently risky for criminal actors.

The bill's response is multi-statute. It amends the Customs Act 1901, Excise Act 1901, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Taxation Administration Act 1953, and Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 — a span that signals the government's intent to attack the trade at every point from importation through to sale [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s005]. Penalties increase for importation, possession, buying, selling, supply, production, and manufacture of illicit tobacco.

Investigatory powers are expanded to include computer access, surveillance capabilities, and telecommunications interception — tools previously unavailable or restricted in this enforcement context.

The government's proceeds of crime reforms are the most structurally significant element. The bill strengthens information-gathering and confiscation mechanisms, and — notably — enables sharing of investigation information with AUSTRAC, ASIC, and APRA [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s005]. Looping in financial regulators alongside law enforcement signals that the government views the illicit tobacco trade as a financial crime problem as much as a customs or excise one.

The bill also modernises search warrant frameworks and establishes national consistency for serving documents and protecting information related to restraining orders — addressing what the government has identified as operational gaps across state and territory jurisdictions.

The observations flagged in the source records note that terms including "unexplained wealth", "proceeds of crime regime", and references to transnational organised crime networks with links to the Middle East and South-East Asia appear in the parliamentary debate but are not fully captured in the structured segment. Policy staff should consult the primary Hansard record for the Assistant Minister's full contextual remarks on those dimensions, as the geographic and criminal-network framing may be material to understanding the bill's intelligence and enforcement rationale.