Raise penalties and give police stronger powers to fight illegal tobacco — back it or block it?
This bill targets Australia's booming illegal tobacco trade. It increases criminal penalties for importing, making, buying, selling and possessing illicit tobacco; lets law enforcement use phone taps and wider search and surveillance powers for these offences; and strengthens proceeds-of-crime and unexplained-wealth laws to seize criminals' cash, cars and property. Labor says illegal tobacco has become a multibillion-dollar organised-crime problem fuelling firebombings and violence, and this changes the risk-reward equation for criminals. The Coalition backed the bill's passage but moved an amendment saying it is too little, too late, and argued high tobacco excise created the black market. Independent Allegra Spender also supported it but said penalties alone can't fix the problem. Debate ran more than three hours — no formal vote was recorded.
🗳 A public mood-check, not a scientific poll. Vote to see where the room stands.
For · Government (Labor)Labor says illegal tobacco is now a serious organised-crime crisis worth an estimated $4–7 billion a year, funding firebombings, shootings and intimidation that have hit shops and bystanders across the country. Higher penalties, phone-tap powers and stronger proceeds-of-crime laws will make the trade riskier and less profitable, and cutting tobacco excise would only hand a win to organised crime while unwinding decades of falling smoking rates.
For · CoalitionThe Coalition backed the bill for giving police stronger tools, but moved an amendment calling it too little, too late — the product of Labor's own excise increases that widened the gap between legal and illegal prices and drove consumers to the black market. They argued tougher penalties mean nothing without enforcement and prosecutions, called for a comprehensive national strategy, asset seizures and immediate shop closures, and said an honest review of excise settings should be on the table.
For · Allegra Spender (Ind)Spender supported the bill and welcomed the unexplained-wealth powers that go after the money, not just the product. But she said enforcement alone cannot close a gap where illegal packets cost less than half the legal price, and called for reviewing excise, a genuine national retail licensing scheme, and proper resourcing of border and state enforcement.