Blame game over tobacco wars as retailer escapes with warning

Chris Minns thinks the crippling cigarette excise is linked to organised crime. Jim Chalmers doesn’t agree. Meanwhile, the convenience store opposite NSW Parliament seen brazenly selling illegal smokes has been given a warning.

The Foodie Convenience Store on Macquarie Street directly opposite NSW Parliament House, which was selling illegal cigarettes and vapes in broad daylight. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Chris Minns has been abandoned by his federal counterparts, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers ignoring the Premier’s SOS to lower the spiralling tax rate on cigarettes and declaring he was “not convinced” cutting the excise would end the sale of illegal tobacco.

With Mr Minns flagging the possibility of police needing to play a larger role in the tobacco war, The Daily Telegraph can reveal the store opposite NSW Parliament has escaped with a warning after it was exposed brazenly selling illegal smokes and vapes earlier this week.

It’s understood a spot-check, conducted by NSW Health bureaucrats shortly after this masthead raised the alarm, discovered only a minor compliance issue relating to the retailer’s signage, with the shop lectured about possible future punishments under the Public Health Act.

Sources within NSW Health have highlighted the immense challenge of 20 “authorised inspectors” having to oversee the almost 20,000 businesses registered to sell tobacco in NSW.

While the maximum penalty for individuals flogging illegal cigarettes is a $154,000 fine, it’s understood the majority of retailers are issued an on-the-spot fine of just $1100 - the equivalent of the penalty for speeding by more than 30km/h.

One state government source flagged it was also “impossible” for them to prosecute most small-scale offenders through the courts.

Opinion remains divided within the NSW Police Force over their potential involvement in compliance, with some baulking at the additional workload, while others conceded it was “inevitable that we will enter the game”.

One senior officer warned it was “dumb” for the Minns Government to not require tobacco business owners to complete a “fit-and-proper-person” test under the new licensing scheme due to begin next month.

The test, which involves a detailed criminal check on all applicants, has been introduced in Victoria, but was not included in recent reforms by NSW Labor.

Health Minister Ryan Park told this masthead there were “serious concerns” about the burden such a test would have on small businesses, and it was determined they “could not afford to delay the implementation of this scheme”.

A separate police source added the compulsory criminal background check had been an effective tool in their blitz on some of the state’s bikie-run tattoo parlours in recent years.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has called for the federal government to lower the tobacco excise - linking it directly to organised crime. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers is against cutting the excise. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman on Wednesday asked the Minns Government if it would consider expanding the powers of Taskforce Falcon, established last month to respond to a string of gangland murders.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley responded in Question Time by telling Mr Speakman: “as if the NSW Police are not doing enough. As if the NSW Police are not doing everything they can.”

Meanwhile, the Premier’s belief that the illicit market is being fuelled by the spiralling tobacco excise is not shared by the Albanese Government, with Mr Chalmers saying: “I respectfully disagree with Chris (Minns).”

“We have to resist the temptation to think it’s either 100 per cent people giving away the darts or 100 per cent illegal activity,” he said.

“I don’t think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people. I think the answer here is to get better at compliance.”

The tobacco excise, now worth $1.40 per cigarette stick, has lost more than $20bn in forecast earnings since it reached a record high of more than $16bn in 2019-2020.