Putting the cart before the horse there... If you dramatically reduce the exorbitant tobacco taxes, the black market will not be able to sustain itself, and you won't have to hunt them all down 💁‍♀️

Legalise the growth of tobacco plants in Australia then people Grow their own problem solved.

I'm still trying to come to terms that we have a "Illicit Tobacco Commissioner" 😂

Price differential is the key to why cheap tobacco is around

You don’t need to assume anything. Just read the comments. There are people among them that are openly saying they won’t buy retail cigarettes because they’re getting much cheaper cigarettes through other means. And the only reason why tobacco is so expensive in this country is because of taxes and excise. The government created the demand for a black market

Time to licence people to grow their own for personal use... $1000 a year... and illicit tobacco and organised crime in this sector would dissappear forever.

Angela Cooper i agree about the alcohol does more harm than smoking. More bashings and murders and I know people who smoke have had operations serious ones and have gone on to lead a long life. Smoking calms their nerves. So don't go telling people they can't smoke none of their dam business. I wonder how many politicians slip outside for a puff.

Malcolm I like you but don't vilify vapes. It's far healthier than government edition cigarettes that have hundreds of chemicals on them where is a vape juice that's made properly can have vegetable glycerine VG propeline glycol PG and natural flavours or essence. Maybe we should get rid of the billion dollar big tobacco industries and bring back proper old school tobacconist again who sell natural products

Tax collected on a packet of cigarettes is around $40. I think that's more than enough money to pay any health care costs in later life. The government should address the costs to the community and health in regards to Alcohol. It causes more deaths, assaults, costs and disruption to the community than any other drug.

For a 30g pouch of tobacco $100 $73 of that goes to the government

Our lungs, our choice...sup with the discrimination against tobacco smokers.

The government created this with their taxes. Unless they can match the "illicit" sales price of tobacco and sell the rum and and other flavour tobacco products again, people will not change.

What about the twenty thousand dollars tobacco license to sell tobacco quiet sure that doesn’t add up

I don't know one smoker who is not buying illegally imported cigarettes and the simple reason is COST!! Just reduce the tax and everyone will buy legal cigarettes and end the organised crime element. It's not rocket science!!!

Malcolm the MAN

So bad huh but yet legal to sell 🤣🤣

The biggest criminal activity to do with tobacco is the amount of money the government makes of it , and dont put it back into the health system

They clearly haven't got a clue.

The government has priced them selves out of the market 🤪

The greater, far more serious issue is not the sale of cheap tobacco products, but the fact these banned products made it through, and continue to freely pass Australia's supposedly secure borders. If commercial quantities of illicit products are entering unchecked, then what else is being missed ? Are our borders safe ?

Honestly you cant rely on revenue from tabacco tax. Your aim was to lower smokers to zero. How much tax would you be getting if no one smoked? None so no tabacco tax to rely on. Tabacco tax was to discourage wasnt it? Not to profit. But it seems the governments aim WAS to profit.

It isn't rocket science drop the taxes that the government charges and people won't buy from illegal shops the taxes are ridiculous 😡😡😡

Stop dribbling and answer the question!

I can get a packet of 20 cigarettes for 20 dollars on the back market if i buy from a supermarket it's over 40 dollars the government have created the back market because of there high taxes on tobacco

Because it’s by design, flood the nation with cheap smokes, tobacco and vapes. Squeeze legitimate businesses out and then there will come a time when they say oh we will just ban it, only allow you to have them with a doc cert and purchase them from a chemist.then they could double their profit margins by tapping into that Medicare nest egg.