Thursday, 30 October 2025

 Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (23:33): (2078) My matter is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs in relation to the lucrative illicit tobacco trade and the effect it has on public health. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently strengthen enforcement against the illicit tobacco trade and review the Allan government’s tobacco control strategies, which have clearly failed to protect vulnerable Victorians. Australia is facing a public health crisis. For the first time in years, the smoking rate is rising, and it is being driven by the booming black market. Over 5 billion illicit cigarettes were smoked in the past year, with brands like Manchester and Double Happiness now making up 64 per cent of total cigarette sales. This surge is sharpened by young Australians and low-income earners. Smoking among 18- to 24-year-olds has skyrocketed by 82 per cent. Among those earning under $50,000, the smoking rate has jumped up 66 per cent. These are the very groups we should be protecting, not exposing to cheap, unregulated tobacco. Packets of black-market cigarettes are selling for as little as $10, compared to $45 to $55 for legal products. While the government boasts about having the highest tobacco tax in the world, it is clear that the policy is backfiring.

Instead of choking off demand, it is driving consumers straight into the arms of organised crime. The Australian Medical Association has warned the smoking rate is now at its highest in a decade. Waterways analysts confirm that nicotine use is at an eight-year high. Meanwhile, federal excise revenue is at its lowest in more than 10 years. This is not just the failure of enforcement, it is a failure of leadership. We need stronger law enforcement, tighter supply chain control and proper licensing. Yet under the Allan Labor government, tobacco control has been wound back to the 1970s. So I call the minister to act now. We need to crack down on illicit tobacco and review the policies and renew commitments for protecting young Victorians from addiction, because if we do not do it now, we risk undoing decades of progress in public health and leaving a generation behind.