Thursday, 4 December 2025

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:33): (1180) My question is to the Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. I imagine that very soon the minister’s department will be training the reported 14 authorised officers for the new tobacco regulation and licensing scheme. They will be sent up against Victoria’s vast organised crime network. And to give you an idea of what they are up against, there have been over 150 arson attacks; at least four murders; widespread extortion, intimidation and blackmail, most of which has not been reported; and the tragic incidental murder of an innocent person who was burnt alive. It was also reported that these same networks have been infiltrated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and used for terror attacks. My question to the minister is this: how will you guarantee that these authorised officers will be safe?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:34): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question; it is a question and a matter of great public interest. We have seen reports of late of further growth of the illicit trade of tobacco, and it also puts into question some of the work we have done to minimise, more broadly in terms of the policy space across the country, smoking rates in the nation and how that data may be also affected by the growth of this sector. But our government is committed to stamping out crime in all its forms, especially in relation to illicit tobacco. That is why we have set up the first ever regulator of this state. As we speak, people are signing up to the new scheme to sell legal tobacco. We have introduced a fit and proper person test as part of that and obviously tougher penalties of imprisonment for up to 15 years and larger fines. We will have boots on the ground from next February. The key to that will be to have intelligence-led searches. But really, as you have outlined in your question, this is a matter of serious organised crime, and some of it, as you give an example of, has foreign interference. So this will have to have multiple agencies working across borders but in particular Victoria Police working more closely to where the criminal element is here to take action.

In relation to, I guess, workplace safety for the 14 operators, that is a very, very important question, and I think that will be an operational matter for the chief operating officer of our new agency to consider. I am obviously not going to share those details of how they will be operating in this forum, but that is something that they will be looking at very closely. And obviously they will be working closely with Victoria Police to see how that model can be rolled out, because the safety of workers is always paramount for the Allan Labor government.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:36): I thank the minister for that response. After talking with many councils, my understanding is that one of the reasons that the previous regulation scheme failed is because many CEOs were reluctant to send authorised officers out into these environments because they were too dangerous. They were worried about their own liability. In particular, they were worried about liability under the workplace manslaughter laws. As we confirmed when the workplace manslaughter laws came out, ministers are also potentially liable under these laws. I am wondering: what sort of consideration has the minister given to the potential liability of both department heads and himself under these sorts of dangerous environments that these authorised officers are going to be sent into?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:37): I thank Mr Limbrick for that supplementary question. One hundred per cent, the focus needs to be on worker safety, and I think that is something that the chief operating officer for the new regulator will be looking at. But as I stated, any searches, in particular where there is direct action, will need to be in coordination with law enforcement, because the people that are operating in this area are organised criminals. We need to stamp it out, and that will of course need Victoria Police. But many of these operations, and we have seen a number of operations where people have been arrested of late, are across borders and across agencies and include the federal police and Victoria Police. I think there is a role for the regulator to identify and collect evidence, but definitely some of this enforcement will need to be done with police.