December 2025
Tobacco tax take to dwindle to almost nothing
Forecasts for tobacco excise revenue have downgraded by $1.6 billion for the 2026 financial year and $8.2b over the four years to 2028-29.
450 elephants: The scale of government’s illicit tobacco problem
Authorities seized 2244 tonnes of illicit tobacco last year, but experts say the government needs to think more about the role of tax rather than just enforcement.
Australia’s $50 cigarette experiment has become a gift for gangsters
The predictable shift of smokers from the legal to black market is a clear consequence of the current tax structure.
Black market economy: ABS to measure illegal cigarette sales
As sales of legal tobacco products plunge, the government statistician has taken the extraordinary step of trying to measure spending on black market nicotine.
November 2025
Why your exercise routine may not be enough to protect your brain
Dementia has overtaken heart disease to become Australia’s No.1 killer, yet as many as half of cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes.
September 2025
The government has a tough climate policy task
Readers’ letters on the need for social licence for climate policy, energy security, Trump’s paracetamol claims, Albanese in New York and Nvidia’s AI deals.
Australia’s tobacco crackdown has created a gangster’s paradise
The government has inadvertently helped enrich powerful gangs who are resorting to violence to retain their financial advantage.
Up in smoke: Cigarette sales plunge 22pc
Legal cigarette sales plunged 22 per cent over the past year, underlining the policing and government budget challenges from the rampant black market.
August 2025
Anti-drug program helps teens say no to the lure of vapes
Griffith University’s Blurred Minds initiative has won the Financial Review Higher Education Awards in the Community Engagement category.
Non-smokers are getting lung cancer. Is air pollution to blame?
The face of the disease – once older men with a history of smoking – has changed. Scientists have found some early hints.
July 2025
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.
ASX giant’s plunge shows illegal tobacco crisis is deepening
You can’t help feeling Viva Energy’s woes have been compounded by a crisis not of its making which is spiralling further out of control.
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 2025
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 2025
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 2025
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 2025
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.