Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to make a contribution to the debate on the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024, which amends the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to ban the importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisement of disposable single-use and non-therapeutic vapes. The bill preserves patients' access to therapeutic vapes for smoking cessation and the management of nicotine dependence under clinical conditions. The bill will impact the sale and supply of non-nicotine vaping products, as vapes containing nicotine are already subject to restrictions under the Poisons Standard classification.

The coalition will not stand in the way of this bill passing the Senate. This brings both non-nicotine and nicotine vapes under the same framework, treating both categories of vaping product in the same way. It creates a single framework under the TGA for the regulation of all vaping products regardless of their nicotine content. We agree with the principle of all vapes being treated the same way under the TGA, and we would use the same framework as part of our strictly regulated retail model.

We've been clear from the get-go that it is our priority to protect Australian children from the harms of vaping, and, in line with that priority, we will not stand in the way of this change. No-one wants to see Australian children having access to vaping products or becoming addicted to vaping, and the coalition's primary concern is preventing children from getting access to these products. We've focused on stamping out the organised-crime driven black market that is supplying these illegal vapes to children. Let's be clear: it has always been illegal to sell vaping products to children, but, under Labor, Australian kids are being targeted by a thriving and dangerous black market. The Albanese Labor government has failed to control the illicit vaping market and has failed to protect children against the proliferation of vaping products. Labor's prohibition-style approach plays straight into the hands of organised crime syndicates, who are profiting massively from the sale of illegal vapes.

We do not want to see organised crime continue to thrive across the country under this weak government, placing community safety further at risk. It is these criminals who would benefit from the government's plan to double down on the failing medical model. This is why greater scrutiny of this legislation was absolutely essential and why the coalition pushed for a Senate inquiry into the issue. It would have been completely irresponsible not to demand further investigation of this very serious issue. We note the findings of the inquiry, including submissions that raise significant concerns about the failure of the current model. Notably, the inquiry highlighted how the illicit vaping black market is out of control and thriving in Australia. Right now it is illegal to buy a nicotine vape without a prescription, yet kids are still getting ready access to flavoured vapes in coloured packaging that contain nicotine. The latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that one in 10 Australians under 18 are currently vapers. This represents a fourfold increase since 2019. This is unacceptable.

It is clear that the current model is failing. Right now less than 10 per cent of Australian vapers are purchasing their product through the prescription model. Even the TGA has acknowledged that the prescription-only model has not achieved its goals. Entrenching the existing failing medical model will not prevent children from having access to vaping products, and it will further drive the sale of these products to the black market. So the Albanese government has been doubling down on an approach that is simply not working. In fact, they've even conceded that their model is failing by making a last-minute dirty deal with the Greens. This deal seeks to have vapes sold by completely unwilling pharmacists.

We know that pharmacists want to use their valuable time to provide primary care advice to the community and, as they themselves have said, not to become tobacconists or garbologists. Pharmacists have made it clear that they do not support this model and take exception to being forced to take on the role of dispensers and disposers. The core role of our community pharmacists is to dispense registered medicines and provide important primary care support and advice to the Australian community. The Labor-Greens policy completely undermines that core role. It also sends a concerning message to Australians, who would see vaping products being sold next to essential medicines like children's Panadol behind the pharmacy counter. This greatly undermines the government's own policy of quality use of medicines.

This last-minute, harebrained, snap decision to buy the Greens' support has clearly not been thought through. There are a litany of issues that have not been addressed prior to making this announcement—issues like: the fact that the Queensland medicines and poisons law requires schedule 3 medicines to be recorded, including the person's name, yet Labor and the Greens say this information won't be collected; the likelihood that pharmacists simply will not stock these vapes anyway; and the potential impact of liability and insurance on pharmacies, let alone the need for pharmacies to find the storage area within their stores to store the vapes and manage disposal.

This is just another demonstration of the complete contempt that the Labor Party has for the 6,000 small businesses that are Australia's community pharmacy sector—the very same people who kept their doors open during COVID. In rural, regional and remote areas, they are often the only health professional in town. Yet the government didn't even give the courtesy of speaking to the Pharmacy Guild or the Pharmacy Society about this dirty deal they've done with the Greens. They first heard about it when they heard it in the media—another example of no consultation, of just forcing policy onto Australian businesses without any consideration of the impact on those businesses or the staff who work in those stores. And the government's senseless and chaotic approach will not protect the health outcomes of young Australians, who are already buying illicit vaping products. The mess Labor has made on this vaping policy will only drive more Australians into the hands of the black market.

But it is also clear that if you're serious about stopping children vaping you've also got to be serious about enforcement. The resourcing of enforcement measures at the borders and at the point of sale have been grossly insufficient under the Albanese Labor government. Currently vaping is a multibillion dollar business in Australia, and the black market is already estimated to be worth in excess of $1 billion. More than 100 million illicit disposable devices are estimated to be sold on the black market each year. In Victoria alone, the black market for vapes has been valued at up to $500 million.

Yet this thriving black market is still going largely unchecked. The government has yet to establish or fund the promised illicit tobacco and vaping commissioner they agreed to fund to get this thriving black market under control. Last year, when confronted during the debate on Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023 about their failure to address enforcement, the government agreed to support the coalition's amendment to establish a new illicit tobacco and e-cigarette commissioner within the Australian Border Force. However, since the government announced they would act on the amendment in January, we have not seen any evidence at all that this critically important commissioner has actually been established. Once again, the Albanese government have proven they're all announcement but no action and they just aren't up for the job of cracking down on organised crime. Enforcement is the critical component of cracking down on this issue, but right now the vaping black market is thriving under Labor's watch.

We, the coalition, are serious about stamping down on the black market and we're serious about protecting children. That's why the coalition has announced that we will invest another $250 million towards law enforcement efforts. That's 10 times more than the Albanese Labor government. The funding will be used to set up an illegal tobacco and vaping taskforce led by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force to tackle illegal vapes from the border to the shopfront. The critical investment into enforcement will form part of alternative approach to vaping, which will crack down on the black market and protect Australia's children.

A coalition will introduce a strictly regulated retail model for vaping products under the TGA to put a stop to the dodgy retailers selling vapes to Australian children with impunity through the rampant black market. This model will include a licensing scheme, prevention campaigns and a strong enforcement effort as part of a sensible approach to keeping money out of the hands of criminals while stopping the sale of vapes to our children. Our regulated approach will also address the dangerous and unknown chemicals contained in illegal vapes by placing strict requirements on safety and quality.

Bringing Australia in line with European countries, a regulated model is in the best interest of both public health outcomes and law enforcement. Only a coalition has the strength to be honest with the Australian public about this very real issue. The government's senseless and chaotic approach will not protect the health outcomes for young Australians who are already buying illicit vaping products. Regulating the vaping market through strict and sensible retail based policies will protect our kids from the harms of vaping and protect our community from organised crime.

Once again, the coalition's priority remains protecting children from the harms of vaping. We're committed to cracking down on organised crime in the black market that has been bolstered by the Albanese government's insistence on doubling down on a failed model. That is why I'll be moving a second reading amendment that calls on the government to move alternative regulatory models such as our strictly regulated retail model if its bill and the medical model it continues to pursue is proven to fail. There is no sense in continuing with an approach that just simply is not working. The coalition is only interested in a model that does work. This is in the best interest of our public health outcomes and community safety.

Whilst we won't stand in the way of this legislation passing the chamber, the coalition condemns the government for doing a dirty deal with the Greens, a deal that shows a weak government in chaos, a government desperate to get their legislation through such that they're prepared to drop a policy on our frontline primary care workers, professionals and pharmacists without notice or consultation. I move the second reading amendment standing in my name:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate calls on the Government to:

(a) provide definitive and objective measures on what it considers constitutes the success or failure of this bill; and

(b) if these measures are not met, move to alternative regulatory models such as allowing vaping products to be sold in general retail".