A Gift to Crime Gangs

The message couldn’t be clearer – high tobacco taxes are a gift to organised crime.

Why won’t the government listen?

Cut the tobacco excise and put criminals out of business.

Transcript | Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Shopping Centre Council of Australia

Senator ROBERTS: Thank you for appearing today. You have both been pretty comprehensive in your comments and your submissions. Could you tell me briefly and in detail about some of the solutions that your members are advocating and that you would like to pass on. Especially, do they have any comments or much comment about cutting excise rates in legal tobacco?  

Mr Nardi: As per our principal recommendation in our submission, the key solution from our role in helping to address illicit tobacco trade is ensuring that all jurisdictions have strong and effective closure order and lease termination powers, and that ultimately means that any landlord is just given that express right to terminate a lease with being immune from any damages or the tenant having any mediation rights, just so that tenant can be moved on and we can actually lease the premises to someone else and get on with our business. That’s our principal solution that we are commending to the committee.  

Ms Bitsis: We certainly don’t disagree with Angus on that point, but, to the substance of your question around excise, there is a particular situation here in Victoria relating not just to tobacco anymore but also to alcohol. We did recommend in our submission that excise rates are looked at, and we have done that really as a means by which we can address the significant penetration of organised crime into both of these industries and the impact that is having on the business community, which I have just outlined in terms of what those costs are.  

Senator ROBERTS: Let me just clarify and maybe summarise. High excise rates on tobacco and alcohol create fertile ground for illegal businesses’ crime. Is that correct?  

Ms Bitsis: From our perspective, the evidence of that is very clear now in Victoria, unfortunately.  

Senator ROBERTS: I appreciate your clarity. Thank you, Chair.