Nationals push to legalise nicotine vapes

The Nationals have endorsed a policy to allow nicotine vapes to be sold legally at shops without a prescription.

the Nationals will call for laws requiring a prescription to access nicotine vapes to be axed and regulations to be brought in line with those around conventional cigarettes. Picture: iStock

The Nationals have endorsed a policy to allow nicotine vapes to be sold legally at shops without a prescription, arguing that the ­existing Coalition-era policy has led to a flourishing black market.

Revealing their position after a partyroom meeting on Monday, the Nationals will call for laws requiring a prescription to access nicotine vapes to be axed and regulations to be brought in line with those around conventional cigarettes.

Nationals leader David Littleproud told The Australian it was clear legislation introduced by former health minister Greg Hunt had not worked and that the “genie was out of the bottle” when it came to e-cigarettes and vaping.

“We effectively have a prohibition through a prescription model that’s not working and leading to perverse outcomes where children are impacted,” Mr Littleproud said.

The call for the laws introduced by Mr Hunt to be overturned – which is in line with a push from tobacco companies – puts the junior Coalition party at odds with the Liberals, who confirmed they would wait for recommendations from the Therapeutic Goods Administration before seriously considering the party’s position.

It follows The Australian reporting on Monday the current laws had allowed 90 million vapes a year to be imported into Australia, with the TGA confirming it had launched more than 2000 investigations into nicotine vaping products between Oct­ober 2021 and March 2023.

NSW MP Pat Cona­ghan – who brought forward the briefing paper on vaping endorsed by the partyroom – said the Nationals wanted increased regulation that “mirrored cigarettes” around the packaging, marketing and flavours available.

“Prohibition doesn’t work. We’ve seen that everywhere, you can use cannabis as an example,” he said. “Let’s legalise vaping, let’s control it, let’s make sure the product has in it what it says it has and treat it as a health issue, not outlaw it.”

On the question of an excise on vapes, Mr Conaghan said costings would be done by the Parliamentary Budget Office to investigate how to strike the right balance between regulating the product while ensuring people didn’t turn back to cigarettes.

Any money raised should go towards regional health outcomes, the party agreed.

Opposition assistant health spokeswoman and Nationals MP Anne Webster said she was “deeply concerned” by the number of children who were vaping and that regulation, not prohibition, was “the way to go”.

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said he was “deeply disappointed” in the Nationals’ newly announced position and said he couldn’t “think of a worse policy”.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the Nationals had a “blatant conflict of interest” because they were the only party still accepting donations from Big Tobacco.