Thursday, 5 February 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:07): My question is for the Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. The Libertarians have been correct in predicting the criminal consequences of the economic incentives set up by our tobacco policy in Australia, so it gives me no pleasure at all to ask this next question. With the very high financial penalties in our new tobacco licensing scheme, it is now the case that the cost of paying these fines is an order of magnitude higher than the cost for organised crime to take out a hit – that is, it is cheaper for organised crime to silence people through murder than it is to pay these fines. What is the department doing to prevent this happening?

The PRESIDENT: I think that would be across a number of portfolios, but I will let the minister have a go.

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:08): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question and his longstanding interest in these matters. Mr Limbrick, I feel that some of these questions are probably better directed to the Minister for Police, being about law enforcement, but I will say in relation to my portfolio area we make no apologies for putting tough new penalties in place. There are criminal networks involved, that you have acknowledged in this place before, that are beyond Victoria’s borders. There are national and international syndicates behind this criminal network, and we need the toughest penalties in place to act as deterrents, because for too long they have been undercutting legitimate businesses doing the right thing, so we make no apologies. These tough new penalties are in place, and I am not foreshadowing – if we need to do more, we will.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:09): I thank the minister for his answer. I would say that it is highly relevant to this portfolio, though, because the chain of events that might end in that unfortunate outcome would start with the inspections by authorised officers. But my next question is: how will you judge the success of this licensing scheme over the next six months?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:09): Our goal is to stamp out this illicit trade. In the coming months or years – because we understand that these are international networks and there is not a quick solution – what I would like to see is a number of stores where our inspectors go in and seize products, and these will be reported in the usual way. We have seen success with other regulators where they go in and seize products and there are these fines and there are legal actions on foot. But I want to also remind people that there has been a lot of activity in this space. 150 arrests – that is quite significant. Almost $40 million worth of illicit products have already been seized. I would like to see that number go up. Not $40 million worth of goods seized – a lot more than that. As the capabilities develop with our new licensing scheme, that is what I want to see happen.