NewsBite

Tobacco

July

Vapes are still seen as being not as bad for your health as cigarettes - but they contain far more nicotine.

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.

  • Gus McCubbing

January

Authorities have seized more than $4.5 million worth of disposable vapes after the government banned the importation of the products from the new year.

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’.

  • Gus McCubbing

September 2023

AFR SYDNEY. Reporter: Carrie LaFrenz. Photo shows, Metcash Chairman Peter Birtles  and CEO Doug Jones at company’s AGM.   Photo by Peter Rae. Friday 15 September,  2023

Metcash says higher living costs, illicit tobacco trade dent sales

Revenue at the food, liquor and hardware divisions is up 1.7 per cent so far this year, but consumers are seeking discounts and spending less at bars and pubs.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

Billions in taxes being lost as illegal tobacco booms

Australian Border Force has confiscated just under a billion illegal cigarettes worth nearly $1.1 billion in forgone tax over the past two years.

  • Ronald Mizen

August 2023

Australian Border Force says illicit tobacco is a growing industry for organised crime groups.

Illegal tobacco, rising cigarette prices dent supermarket profits

Master Grocers Association chief David Inall says illicit tobacco is a significant concern for its 2700 members, mostly independent grocery and liquor stores.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
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May 2023

Vapes are flavoured and designed to appeal to young people.

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.

  • Duncan Hughes

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?

  • Campbell Kwan and Ingrid Fuary-Wagner

March 2023

Labor has rejected the idea that vaping laws should be relaxed.

‘Not benign’: Labor plans vaping crackdown

Health Minister Mark Butler has accused the tobacco industry of marketing vaping products to children.

  • Tom McIlroy

February 2023

Former star stock picker Neil Woodford went from hero to zero in the UK, and the fallout has been immense for Link Group.

Celebrity fund managers on the nose as alternative models soar

The halos around celebrity fund managers like Neil Woodford and Cathie Wood have slipped on the back of ridiculous claims and investment blow-ups.

  • Tom Richardson

December 2021

Illegal tobacco is mostly imported, but some is grown in Australia.

Illegal tobacco costs nation $5b a year, says BIS Oxford

Illegal tobacco has burgeoned to the point where it costs the community more than $5 billion a year in lost tax revenue, profits and jobs, according to a report by BIS Oxford Economics.

  • Jacob Greber

November 2021

To keep retail sales going, young recruits are constantly needed to replace those who have quit or died from smoking related causes.

Take cigarettes off retail shelves to support quitters, experts say

Control efforts have so far been too focused on measures that dampen demand, such as taxes, and it’s time for a shift in thinking, they warn.

  • Jill Margo

March 2021

The National Retail Association says it is not legally required to reveal whether tobacco companies are funding its campaign to legalise e-cigarettes

Senators claim retail lobby group ‘misled’ e-cigarette inquiry

The National Retailing Association says it doesn’t have to reveal the source of the money for its campaign that supported Philip Morris’ position on vaping.

  • Neil Chenoweth

February 2021

Big tobacco is behind the push to legalise vaping.

The secret money trail behind vaping

E-cigarettes are supposed to stop people smoking - but the money trail shows big tobacco is all over the push to legalise vaping.

  • Neil Chenoweth

December 2020

Hollie Hughes checks the label, during Senate hearings.

Tobacco giant wheezes on about COVID-19 charity

When it comes to brazen PR statements, Philip Morris' submission to a Senate vaping inquiry goes full throttle.

  • Liam Walsh

September 2020

“We've had this big loophole for so long because governments have been quite naive," says Dr Becky Freeman

Whistleblowers tell how tobacco industry exploits loopholes

Legal legal loophole provides a “last line of marketing” to tobacco companies and should be urgently closed down, say researchers.

  • Jill Margo
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June 2020

Australia was the first country to introduce plain packaging rules.

Australia prevails in decade-long duel with Big Tobacco

The pioneering "plain packaging" rules for cigarettes have now seen off every legal challenge the tobacco industry has thrown at them.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Australia was the first country to introduce plain packaging rules.

Australia wins tobacco case at World Trade Organisation

The pioneering "plain packaging" rules for cigarettes have now seen off every legal challenge the tobacco industry has thrown at them.

  • Hans van Leeuwen

February 2020

Australian of the Year Dr James Muecke is using his win to promote a sugar tax.

The sinister side of the woke nanny state

Our self-appointed betters who claim to know what's good for us are now telling us not only how to live but how to think.

  • David Leyonhjelm

November 2019

China, the biggest manufacturer of vaping devices, has banned online sales amid health concerns.

China puts the brakes on its $7b vaping industry

The world's biggest manufacturer of e-cigarettes has banned the online sale of vapes to address rising health concerns.

  • Sun Liangzi and Denise Jia

October 2019

AFR

Climate lawsuit increases pressure on responsible investing

As investors become more strident about how they want their portfolios invested, a test case against REST Super has many watching this space.

  • Duncan Hughes

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/tobacco-jqw