Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

He will! I'll never hear the end of it; you're quite right. He said that plain packaging doesn't assist in unlawful or illicit trade in tobacco. While I absolutely agree with the measures we've taken, I think we also have to recognise that there are negative impacts that need to be managed. Certainly, at the very least, we need to adjust our policies, where possible, to remove the impacts. The fact is that plain packaging tobacco has made it easier for the illicit tobacco trade. The increases in the taxes on tobacco and cigarettes, which were necessary and right to do, have also opened a market for third parties or for a black market in illegal cigarettes to come into the country. There is significant evidence that that trade has increased since some of these measures have been taken. The answer is probably better monitoring and better policing of the tobacco trade, but we can't ignore the negative impacts that these changes have had.

Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable and premature death in Australia, and this government is committed to reducing the number of deaths from smoking. Of Australians aged 14 years or older, 12.8 per cent smoke daily. Every year smoking kills approximately 19,000 Australians and costs the Australian taxpayer and the health system—the community—$31.5 billion. This government is committed to reducing the number of people addicted to and reliant on tobacco and, by extension, illegal drugs.

We know that Australians living on welfare are some of the most vulnerable in our society to this addiction. They are at more risk of abuse, drug and alcohol addiction and lower life expectancy. That is why this government is not just committed to helping people who earn a salary and buy legal drugs in the form of cigarettes. We are also committed to helping people who find themselves out of work, relying on welfare and addicted to unlawful or illicit drugs. As a government, as I have already outlined, we are committed to reducing the death rate caused by tobacco.

However, I do have to note that some measures taken have led to an increase, as I mentioned before, in criminal activity, and the sale and importation of illegal tobacco products have sky rocketed. Since July 2016 the Australian tax office undertook 37 seizures totalling 231 tonnes of illicit tobacco, with an estimated tobacco duty forgone of $194 million. In the last financial year alone, the Australian Border Force made more than 110,000 detections of illicit tobacco, including almost 241 million cigarettes and 217 tonnes of tobacco worth more than $356 million in evaded duty.

Under the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011, plain package compliance and enforcement activities are undertaken by authorised officers. Authorised officers must be persons appointed under the Public Service Act 1999 or be a member or special member of the Australian Federal Police. The person is appointed as an authorised officer in writing by the secretary of the Department of Health. This bill proposes to expand the range of persons who can be appointed as authorised officers. The bill will allow the secretary to appoint as authorised officers: Commonwealth officers not appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act; state and territory police officers; and state and territory officers and local government officials with responsibilities in relation to health matters or tobacco control, compliance and enforcement. Given the earlier numbers, it is critical that we expand the number of people involved in enforcing this law.

The bill will enable the government to respond more flexibly to noncompliance. The bill will provide the Department of Health and Ageing with access to a wider pool of officers eligible for appointment as authorised officers, providing greater flexibility to respond to any organisational or administrative changes which may occur in the future. This will also provide more opportunities for authorised officers to cooperate and respond to potential noncompliance. The bill does not change the plain packaging requirements and will not impact the obligations of tobacco manufacturers, distributors or retailers.

Consultation with each relevant state and territory agency has been undertaken. At the conclusion of the consultation, no agencies opposed the amendment. Some state and territory agencies emphasised that their support was only on the basis that their officers could only be appointed as authorised officers with a formal agreement in place. These agencies were comfortable with the amendment, due to the inclusion of a clause providing that the appointment will only be by agreement with the relevant state or territory.

I will take a moment to plug a good friend of mine, the former English MP for Enfield North, Nick de Bois. Nick wrote a book, Confessions of a Recovering MP, which he penned after he left office and, which, I believe, is available on Amazon. In this book, he dedicated a chapter to the criminal activity related to tobacco and cigarette sales. He went undercover in his own constituency to see how rife the sale of these products was. He was so eager to go undercover, he dressed down to what he thought the attire of undercover agents must have been—old pair of jeans; tatty, worn sweater; unpolished boots; and uncombed hair. Nick didn't have to go far, as it turned out. The shop right next door to his electorate office was where they would find illicit cigarettes. It is for this reason and the stats I outlined earlier that I support this bill to enhance our enforcement agencies in relation to noncompliance. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context