Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is not an experiment, and its people are not test subjects, but many times we see legislation that, while proposed for some good reasons, looks at things that just don't work in practice, and we get smacked in the face by reality. There are two things I want to talk about in relation to this. The first is our legislation on illegal tobacco and vaping.

Today is budget day, and we're talking about a loss over the forward estimates of $31 billion to $32 billion in sales tax, rebates and excise on tobacco. Who is it being lost to? It's being lost to organised crime, to the crime gangs out there. The numbers are horrific. In the last two years the premises of over 200 tobacconists have been burned to the ground. These are people who did not want to submit to these crime gangs and sell their illegal goods. They're out there, and this move to illegal tobacco is costing Australia $36 billion in excise. They are burning down buildings. They are putting real business owners under threat. A person may have been killed in a burning like this.

The reality is that we are taxing too much. The World Health Organization were one of the first to come out and say that taxation, raising the price, was one measure we could use to stop smoking, but they themselves have recognised that if the price goes up too far then people will avoid paying the tax, avoid the legal mechanisms. That's what's happening. It is costing Australia money and costing people their livelihoods, and this policy is driving up profits for organised crime. We can't have that.

It is not the intention to drive a debate on the CFMEU—on criminals in the CFMEU and the union thing. That is an unintended consequence. The purpose of excise is not to drive people into criminal gangs, but we're doing it. Our policy is helping the very people we should be punishing in this area. We've had enough. It is time to get a sensible policy with sensible excise and to protect Australians in Australia.