Latest news with #tobaccoExcise
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Crazy': NSW Premier Chris Minns blames tobacco excise for thriving illegal trade
Chris Minns has again slammed the annual tax increase on cigarettes and blamed it for the rise in black market tobacco across the state. The NSW Premier spoke to KIIS radio's Kyle and Jackie O days after he called on the federal government to consider lowering the tobacco excise. He also suggested repurposing police resources from major organised crime networks and domestic violence cases to instead address illegal tobacco sales. 'It's probably not a popular thing for a premier to say because there's been a tax on cigarettes and excise on cigarettes for decades, and I understand that, but they've been radically increased since 2019,' he said on Wednesday. 'So a pack in 2019, 2020, cigarettes had a $16 tax on it. Today it's $28 – a 75 per cent increase. 'This is a crazy thing, that the government used to collect $16bn in revenue and now it's come all the way down to about nine billion. 'It's the only tax in the world, Kyle and Jackie, that they've doubled, and the revenue has declined and all of that money has gone into the black market.' The tax was first introduced in 2010 as an annual 25 per cent increase to reduce smoking rates, and then in 2023 the federal government announced the excise would grow by 5 per cent annually for three years. Mr Minns said most of the illegal tobacco came from overseas, with the explosion of black market cigarettes sending huge amounts of money into the hands of organised crime gangs. The Australian Border Force estimates they control about three-quarters of the trade. 'There's many things I hate about it, but there's two things in particular,' Mr Minns sad. 'Firstly, there's a whole bunch of law-abiding people who go about their lives. They wouldn't break the law in a million years, but they're being dragged into a black market where they go to the store, they can either buy a 17 or $20 packet of illegal cigarettes or a $60 packet of cigarettes. 'It's just a no-brainer for them.' Mr Minns said Health Minister Ryan Park was likely to raise the issue at an upcoming health ministers meeting. 'Every tax and every tax change starts with an idea,' Mr Minns said. 'Every single one of them, someone's saying, 'Look, I don't think this is working, we need to change and so we might as well get the ball rolling here'. 'We have to make a decision because what's happening with these elite illegal tobacco stores is they're pushing out hot bread shops, small businesses, retail stores, they're pushing out restaurants because it's so lucrative they can just take the rent at a higher price.' When asked whether purchasing the illegal tobacco was a crime, Mr Minns said the offence was prior to the sale. 'There's an enormous amount of money now circulating in that black economy that's going to create a whole bunch of other problems,' he said. 'I don't want people to smoke by the way … but we have to be honest about it, realistic about what's going to happen.' Illicit tobacco sales are investigated by NSW Health, with more than 20 compliance officers tasked with managing the tens of thousands of tobacco stores statewide. Cigarette prices in Australia are considered to be one of the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organisation. Taxes account for about three-quarters of the price.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
The illegal act Jackie 'O' Henderson is willing to do amid major nationwide crackdown
Jackie 'O' Henderson shocked listeners on Wednesday morning when she made a surprising admission about her addiction to menthol cigarettes. The radio star, 50, was discussing the 'massive' federal excise on tobacco amid concerns of a growing black market with her co-star Kyle Sandilands when they rang up NSW Premier Chris Minns to discuss the matter. Mr Minns, 45, told the hosts that one of the unfortunate side effects of the federal excise is that the huge price hike on tobacco products has created a black market where they are sold at significantly lower prices. 'There's something I hate about this [excise]. Law-abiding people are being dragged into a black market,' he said. 'They go to the store and either buy a $20 packet of illegal cigarettes, or a $60 legal one. It's just a no-brainer for them.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Jackie then made the surprising admission that she was also considering resorting to purchasing cigarettes on the black market, due to the ban on menthol-flavoured tobacco products. 'I am going [to go black market] because of the menthols ban. You have given me no choice there,' she told Mr Minns. Mr Minns then advised Jackie to 'always follow the law' when it comes to purchasing tobacco products - adding it was a crime to sell cigarettes on the black market, but not to purchase them. Her surprising admission comes ahead of the NSW budget on June 24, of which Mr Minns said a decision had to be made about resources devoted to combating illicit tobacco sales. It could mean reallocating police away from domestic violence, youth crime and gang cases to regulate tobacco sales. 'We may need to do that because I'm concerned as a constituent and as a father to see the number of high street premises being taken over by tobacco firms,' he told reporters on Monday. 'But I wonder whether we need to roll this back a couple of steps and look more closely at the federal government's massive excise on tobacco.' The excise has driven down the number of smokers in NSW to about one in nine adults, the state's most recent population health survey shows. The radio star was discussing the 'massive' federal excise on tobacco amid concerns of a growing black market with her co-star Kyle Sandilands, when they called NSW Premier Chris Minns (pictured) to discuss the matter 'It's meant that many people who wouldn't go near an illegal behaviour ordinarily are buying illicit tobacco almost on a daily basis,' he said. He called for the size of the excise and its influence on illicit tobacco sales to be investigated. Jackie previously shared her own personal story with addiction with listeners during The Kyle and Jackie O Show back in October. Fighting back tears, Jackie shared that she checked into rehab facility the Betty Ford Clinic in California in November 2022, when she took an extended break from The Kyle and Jackie O Show that she previously claimed was due to long Covid. Known for treating Hollywood stars including Keith Urban, Robert Downey Jr. and Lindsay Lohan, Betty Ford charges anywhere from AU$45,000 to AU$90,000 for a month-long stay. Jackie revealed on-air that her long-time friend Gemma had been instrumental into getting Jackie into rehab. The presenter recalled: 'It came to a head and [Gemma] was such a great friend. She said "I'm sorry Jackie, but you're not going to taper off this, it will never work. I'm checking you into rehab at the end of the week and we're going".' 'I said "don't be ridiculous, Gemma like that is such overkill. I don't have a problem that bad that I need to go to Betty Ford".' 'And she said no, we're going and we're doing it and I thank God she did that. I believe she saved my life,' Jackie admitted. She said they caught a night flight out of Australia and boarded at the 'last moment' to avoid being seen and then jetted over to LA, where Gemma stayed with her for two days before she checked into the Betty Ford Clinic. At the time, Kyle - who was unaware of Jackie's drug addiction - told their listeners Jackie was taking a break to 'focus on her health' after contracting Covid. Instead, she was secretly flown out of Australia to be treated for 28 days at the world famous rehab facility for an addiction to painkillers, sleeping pills and alcohol.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW cops could be reallocated to combat illicit tobacco trade as Premier Chris Minns throws down gauntlet on excise
NSW Police could be redeployed from tackling domestic violence and youth crime to tackle the booming illicit tobacco trade – with Premier Chris Minns branding the situation as 'intolerable'. Mr Minns on Tuesday threw down the gauntlet with the federal government over the tobacco excise, amid budget considerations about rolling out resources to tackle the statewide scourge. Part of this includes whether NSW Police focus more on the tobacco war. The Premier said he was worried 'as a constituent and a father' about the number of tobacconists propping up around Sydney, but said he wondered if state and federal leaders needed to take a step back and rethink the tobacco excise. 'I think that that's important. I'm not arguing that the public health benefits of putting an exercise on tobacco. 'But, the massive increase (in the excise) has exploded the illicit tobacco marketplace. 'It's meant that many people who would go near any illegal behaviour ordinarily are buying illicit tobacco almost daily, almost from every street. 'We need to look at how big this excise is and how its driving illegal tobacco sales'. Currently, illicit tobacco sales are investigated by NSW Health. Mr Minns said he wanted those officials 'running hospitals, not conducting criminal investigations' and that police would instead have to decide whether they would allocate police to tobacco 'at the expense of every other crime in NSW'. He asked: 'Is there a better way?' 'The massive excise has meant people haven't stopped smoking, it just transferred their sales into illegal tobacco sales. 'The current situation is intolerable. 'We can't have every to-rent shop on every high street in Sydney in Sydney being taken over by a tobacco company when rate of tobacco has remained stable'. Mr Minns said the 'biggest supporters' of the excise were organised criminals. When asked if he'd put his feelings to the federal government, he said: 'I have now'. The excise on tobacco in Australia increases twice per year in March and September under law. Despite the excise, the revenue made from those sales by the federal government has tanked, according to the most recent federal budget. The federal government expects to earn $7.4bn in revenue from the tobacco excise in this financial year. That's down sharply from $12.6bn in 2022–23, and an earlier peak of $16.3bn in 2019–20. The downward trend is expected to continue.
