Thursday, 29 August 2024

Committees

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Inquiry into Vaping and Tobacco Controls

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:35): Pursuant to section 35 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 I table a report on the Inquiry into Vaping and Tobacco Controls, including appendices and a minority report, from the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC), and I present the transcripts of evidence. I move:

That the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

Michael GALEA: I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

I am very delighted to be here today presenting the PAEC’s report into our most recent inquiry into tobacco and vaping controls into the Parliament. This has been a very illuminating inquiry to be a part of along with other members in this place and in the other place as well, including Mr McGowan, Mrs McArthur and Mr Puglielli from this place. It is very timely for us to be looking at this issue. We have seen a spate of incidents across Victoria in relation to illicit tobacco. We have also seen some very concerning trends when it comes to the increased uptake of vaping products and in many cases dangerous vaping products among large parts of our population. Victoria has a long and proud history of effective tobacco regulation and control and has had some of the best results in the Western world, along with other parts of the country as well. But we have seen many issues arise of recent times, and it is why I am also very glad to see that the Allan Labor government has announced a suite of new reforms which will be implemented in order to bring in our state’s comprehensive tobacco retail regulation scheme.

That is what makes this report very timely, because it was an opportunity for us on the PAEC to sit down and take a widescale look at the issue and also to hear about best practice from experts, and we heard evidence from other jurisdictions around Australia about the best methods of implementing such a scheme. There are recommendations in this report which I certainly hope will constructively help the government to formulate the strongest possible response to the current situation we have with illicit tobacco in particular. We conducted many inquiries, many of them in Melbourne. We conducted site visits as well to see firsthand the scale of the challenges that our border force and Victoria Police face in dealing with the importation of large quantities of illicit tobacco. Indeed not all illicit tobacco products are imported. Some in fact are grown still; that loose-leaf tobacco product is still grown illicitly in some parts of Victoria as well.

We also had the opportunity to talk to many stakeholders when it comes to the issue of vaping. Indeed our very first day of inquiry was held in the city of Shepparton. It was in the lead-up to our regional parliamentary sitting that week. We heard from stakeholders ranging from Victoria Police to council to other stakeholders in the City of Greater Shepparton, and indeed we had representatives and student leaders from Greater Shepparton Secondary College come and speak to us as well. Of all the many interesting parts of evidence that we heard in this inquiry I think the school captains themselves from Greater Shepparton Secondary College gave perhaps the most powerful testimony – really valuable – and I would like to thank them again for their contributions. We heard very interesting evidence from them around the cultural attitudes around vaping and how it pertains to their experiences. Indeed they told us that in many cases it is the younger generation, as in late primary school students, who are the ones most commonly associated with vaping and that at an older age it is seen as uncool. It is very concerning that vaping is such an accepted thing at such young ages. That evidence was backed in by teachers, and indeed in a separate inquiry, which will come to this place quite soon, the Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into education, certainly some of the teachers that we spoke to in that inquiry absolutely backed that up as well.

This was a very good inquiry. I would like to particularly thank our wonderful committee staff, who as always work tirelessly to produce the best quality reports possible and to get the best possible evidence for us, in particular Caroline Williams, Dr Krystle Gatt Rapa and their teams, who have put together what is an excellent piece of work, and I would also like to acknowledge all other committee members, including our chair Sarah Connolly. I will leave my remarks there, and I am sure others will have a few words to say on this important report.

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (09:40): I endorse the comments of my colleague on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee and this inquiry, Mr Galea. It was an enlightening inquiry. When you see the truckloads of illicit tobacco and vapes that are coming into this country and into this state and when you think that only about one in 10 are being trapped, it is a shocking situation. We also learned that the illegal tobacco and vaping trade is part of organised crime and it certainly is a funder of other illicit drug products and other illicit activities, including immigration and prostitution. It was most important that we learned exactly how extensive this problem is in this state and the fact that the regulations are not sufficient and, even worse, that the penalties just do not meet the crimes. If we have got a situation where tobacco shops are being burnt, trashed, invaded and so on, then we have got a serious problem. If people only get a penalty that is not much different to a traffic fine, then of course they are just going to keep on doing it – it means nothing. Even the penalties for bringing in these illicit products are so minor that you could easily pay the fine and keep going. What a dreadful situation that is. It is extraordinary that we even had to do this inquiry. Why hasn’t the government made sure we have a better system of controlling the illicit trades that exist in this state? Like Mr Galea, I thank the staff.

Motion agreed to.