Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) criticises the Government for failing to control the illicit vaping market and failing to protect children against the proliferation of vaping products that have exploded in availability through a black market driven by organised crime;

(2) expresses its alarm that the current prescription-only model is failing, with only approximately 10 per cent of vapers purchasing their product legally through prescriptions;

(3) acknowledges the existence and strength of the $1 billion black market vape trade in Australia, which is fuelled by the importation of more than 100 million illicit disposable devices each year;

(4) recognises that resourcing of enforcement measures at the borders and the point of sale has been grossly insufficient and that policy measures such as prohibition have historically not worked;

(5) calls on the Government to consider all policies to prevent children from accessing and becoming addicted to vaping products; and

(6) further criticises the Government for failing to establish or fund its promised illicit tobacco and vaping commissioner".

One thing we're very good at in this House is celebrating when a policy works well. We'll bring it out time and time again. We'll pat ourselves on the back and point out, if it's continued by another government, that it was our policy in the first place, and we'll throw out statistics and anecdotes galore in self-congratulation. One thing that we don't do well is highlight, or put a spotlight on, policy that has not worked and has not yielded the results that we had hoped for or intended. We do that well from the opposition seats when the government fails, but we don't do it enough when a policy we introduced fails.

We introduced the prescription-only vaping policy that we see continued today by the Labor government. State and federal governments, since that time, have tinkered at the edges, but, overall, the premise has remained the same: essentially, a prohibition model. The only exception is through a prescription from a GP to assist smokers in quitting.

When we did this, on paper it made sense. It was touted as an aid to quitting, and we went ahead. We agreed that vaping wasn't risk free but that evidence showed that e-cigarettes were more effective than other nicotine replacement therapies to help smokers quit, so we went ahead. But we ignored human nature and the confusion among the Australian public around the continually evolving state and federal policies. We ignored the perceived hypocrisy that we were banning the sale of nicotine in a form that we ourselves had promoted as less harmful while allowing a more harmful product to be sold in petrol stations and corner stores around the country. Logically, to those wanting to move away from cigarettes and onto vapes, this seems to be simply mixed messaging.

Based on the surveys and estimates, we know that up to 1.7 million people in this country are currently using vapes, and only eight to 10 per cent are doing so legally, and by 'legally' I mean through a prescription. That means that more than 1.5 million people in this country are currently purchasing unregulated vapes via the black market, either through illegal retail outlets run by organised crime syndicates or online, arriving from overseas, clearing Border Force. We have to acknowledge the existence and the strength of the black market vape trade, which is estimated to be worth $1 billion a year, and we have to acknowledge who runs it, and that is criminal syndicates.

More than 100 million illicit and potentially dangerous disposable devices are estimated to be imported every year by organised crime gangs from China and are freely sold, unregulated, from retail outlets and online, including through social media, to adults and young people alike. State and federal bans have been in place for two years. You need only walk around the streets and walk around this place to see that people don't know that these products have been banned and how easily you can get your hands on them. But we have to admit now, after trial and error, that this mechanism for control hasn't worked, and prohibition will never work. We need to think of better ways to ensure that these products are as safe as possible and are not ending up in the hands of our kids.

As a former operative and detective, having been in the Drug Enforcement Agency for five years, I am acutely aware of the realities and challenges that our law enforcement agencies at all levels are struggling against in this arena. Combating all black market operations in illicit substances, including tobacco and vapes, is a constant uphill battle, and currently these agencies are certainly not equipped with enough manageable parameters so that they can operate effectively. We've seen serious escalations of turf wars from organised crime groups, including personal violence and firebombings of tobacconist stores in Brisbane and Melbourne. And we know that the same organised criminal groups are utilising their existing networks to include the importation and distribution of vape products. The strength of the current black market has seen criminal entities get richer while law enforcement gets harder. In addition, by banning this we have created a barrier to entry for those wanting to easily switch from smoking to vaping, undermining the health and safety of Australians accessing these products.

A coordinated law enforcement approach is required to tackle the entire network. In fact, the 2020 PJCLE report recommended the following:

The committee recommends the development of a National Illicit Tobacco strategy, in conjunction with state and territory police forces, as a co-ordinated, national law enforcement-led response …

We are always beyond the headlines in this place. We've heard that we're taking a strong stance on vaping, and yet we see disposable vapes flagrantly sold in retail premises around the country without oversight or enforcement, which the public appears to continue buying. Seizures have had little impact. I don't raise this to call out any of the law enforcement agencies, because they work hard—but they're under-resourced. Again, history has told us that prohibition does not work. And the genie is out of the bottle.

In addition, expecting members of the TGA or health department workers to undertake inspections leaves them in potentially dangerous positions, dealing with organised crime groups. Any suggestion of this method of control is not only ridiculous but ignores the duty of care to them.

The EU introduced regulation for vaping in 2016 which has been adapted and implemented in various member countries. It has seen a swift reduction in tobacco use and black-market activity. A regulated vaping approach is supported by health and tobacco control agencies in organisations across the EU, including in Sweden, and in other comparable western countries, such as the UK, the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

The countries that have made vapes more difficult to access than cigarettes have seen a considerably slower smoking quit rate than the other countries. For example, the introduction of regulated vaping policy has resulted in more than 50,000 smokers in the UK stopping smoking with the assistance from a vaping product, with a 33 per cent reduction in smoking in the four years to 2022. Since vaping was legalised and regulated in November 2020 in New Zealand, there has been a 39 per cent decline in the smoking rate over three years. Smoking prevalence amongst Maoris declined by 35 per cent. Two Canadian surveys indicated a 15 per cent reduction for those aged 15-plus, and in the 15 to 24 years cohort there was a reduction of 32 per cent in males and 52 per cent in females.

Why would we ignore these successful examples from around the world? Is it arrogance or is it idealism? Whatever the motive, we cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend that we are somehow not subjected to the same criminal elements, the same basic human nature and the same pressures that other First World countries have seen.

The Nationals are committed to true harm minimisation for all Australians when it comes to vaping and e-cigarettes. Protecting all of our young people is our main goal. We believe that vaping needs to be viewed in the full context of law enforcement and harm reduction, by reducing the impacts and cost burden of traditional cigarettes and smoking on our health system, stopping the funding of organised crime organisations, stopping the availability of unregulated and unsafe products to the community, implementing plain packaging, regulating flavours, enforcing market bans and issuing stronger enforceable penalties for those caught conducting businesses outside those parameters.

We believe in providing our law enforcement agencies with a workable framework to help truly make a dent in the illicit trade. We also believe that this can be achieved through a regulated model that follows the same principles as alcohol and cigarette sales and reduces the strength of the black market by providing a safer and more accessible product to those who need it. It's time to recognise that ideology isn't working and it's time to bring some common sense to this issue if we hope to protect our young people and all Australians. It's our responsibility to make the necessary changes now if we're going to have any hope of controlling this into the future.

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