‘Reckless’: Coalition’s 80% cigarette tax cut slammed by health experts

Australia’s leading medical body has labelled the Coalition’s plan to slash tax on a packet of cigarettes by $24 and legalise vapes a “reckless” move that will damage public health, as the opposition frames the move as an assault on organised crime.

Announced after One Nation vowed to cut the tax by 75 per cent, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor’s plan to slash the excise by 80 per cent was labelled a “race to the bottom” against criminal gangs by Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, who said cheaper cigarettes would lead to more deaths.

Australian Medical Association president Danielle McMullen said reducing the price of cigarettes would lead to more people smoking.

“Making cigarettes more affordable is not the answer to tackling the illicit tobacco trade,” she said on Thursday.

“Tobacco taxation has been a major contributor to Australia’s historically declining smoking rates. Lower cigarette prices would likely increase smoking rates, particularly among price-sensitive groups such as young people and people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, widening health inequities.”

On Thursday, the opposition announced it would cut the tobacco excise from about $30 per pack of 20 cigarettes to about $6, alongside the legalisation of vapes and nicotine pouches and a $200 million boost to law enforcement.

“The reality is that the government has created the worst of all possible worlds: more crime, more smoking, and the result is Australians are worse off and [there are] less tax revenues for the government. So it’s been a complete disaster. This requires a radical fix,” Taylor said at a Melbourne press conference where he announced the policy.

Around 80 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Australia are sourced through the illegal market, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The opposition argues the current level of excise, around $1.55 per cigarette, is driving smokers to illicit tobacco. An investigation by this masthead found illegal Manchester-brand cigarettes could be purchased for as little as $1 overseas before being sold in Australia for between $10 and $25.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimates only 1 in 30 containers of illegal cigarettes need to slip past border authorities for syndicates to profit from their sale.

“[The Coalition’s policy] will kill people. Like, seriously, we have some of the lowest smoking rates in the world because cigarettes are expensive. And what we’ve seen is that number come down consistently over time,” Plibersek told News24 on Thursday.

“If we drop the price of legal cigarettes, what’s to say that organised crime doesn’t drop the price of illegal cigarettes?”

Smoking rates increased by 4.9 per cent in the last quarter according to data published this week. While rates have dropped 13.4 per cent since last year, the uptick was the first time rates had increased since 2017.

David Martin, director of cancer control policy at the Cancer Council, said Australia had the lowest smoking rates ever, and now was “not the time” to wind back disincentives.

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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement