This Month
More vape penalties on the way, but will they be harder to buy?
NSW follows Queensland and South Australia in increasing penalties and shutting stores which sell illegal tobacco and vapes, but inconsistency abounds.
June
How $13 smokes smacked Metcash’s tobacco sales 40pc in four years
The supermarket supplier’s numbers are indisputable proof of how the illegal tobacco trade is running rife.
Minns wants tobacco tax cut to fight crime gangs
NSW Premier Chris Minns has joined Victoria in blaming soaring tobacco taxes for the rise in illegal cigarette sales.
Food orders on HungryPanda delivery app come with a side of black market vapes
New laws are designed to restrict sale to pharmacies, but vapes are “as easy to buy as sweet and sour pork” on one popular food delivery app.
March
Big tobacco calls for tax freeze to combat black market ciggies
Australia’s three largest tobacco wholesalers say the high cost of legal cigarettes is causing smokers to turn to the black market and fuelling a crime wave.
February
Australia’s $10b tobacco mistake that’s helping criminals thrive
Unless and until we pair our tobacco taxes with matchingly strong enforcement, we’ll keep failing to fight illegal tobacco and cut smoking rates.
January
China’s smokers light up global tobacco sales despite bans
Unlike in much of the world, where strict controls have led to a sharp decline in smoking, research suggests cigarette sales in China have risen in recent years.
July 2024
Nicotine use soaring as vapes go underground
Experts warn the federal government’s new vaping policies will tip money into the pockets of criminal enterprises and potentially even increase smoking rates.
June 2024
Vapes would be sold like cigarettes under Coalition policy
Vapes would be subject to an excise tax that could raise billions of dollars annually, under a proposal unveiled by shadow health spokeswoman Anne Ruston.
‘Not tobacconists’: Pharmacists reject Labor-Greens deal on vapes
Health Minister Mark Butler on Monday backflipped on plans to mandate doctors’ prescriptions for all vape sales but said the government would still limit their sale to pharmacies.
March 2024
The five factors behind rising rates of cancer in under 40s
Global cases in the under 50s are also rising rapidly, increasing by 79 per cent between 1990 and 2019 according to recent research.
January 2024
Crackdown seizes $4.5m of disposable vapes
Border Force authorities seized 150,000 disposable vapes worth about $4.5 million after the federal government cracked down on the ‘public health menace’.
Fears of black market after vape imports banned
The federal government has banned the importation of single-use disposable vapes amid warnings of youth addiction.
July 2023
Labor to overhaul teaching standards and ‘focus on fundamentals’
State and federal education ministers hope the changes will also boost numeracy and literacy as NAPLAN scores go backwards despite billions in extra funding.
May 2023
Former federal cop has ‘no confidence’ in vaping crackdown
Sophisticated international crime gangs will easily outwit state and federal government attempts to crack down on recreational vaping, critics say.
Australia’s vaping problem (and the $234m plan to fix it)
The federal Labor government wants to enforce a new ban on vaping in Australia. But why is it such a big problem, and why doesn’t the current ban work?
‘RBA still playing recession roulette’: Deloitte
Deloitte Access Economics head Pradeep Philip urges Reserve Bank to place more weighting on employment for rates decisions; Treasurer Jim Chalmers says rates hike is a ‘difficult decision’ for Australians. How the day unfolded.
Tax whack to push cigarettes to nearly $50 a pack
Labor wants daily smoking rates in Australia to fall below 10 per cent by 2025, and to 5 per cent or less by 2030.
Australia to ban recreational vaping
The government will limit vaping to prescriptions for legitimate therapeutic use, calling it a menace to children and public health.
March 2023
‘Not benign’: Labor plans vaping crackdown
Health Minister Mark Butler has accused the tobacco industry of marketing vaping products to children.