‘Not waving white flag’: PM refuses to rule out tobacco excise cut

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to rule out cutting the tobacco excise, while insisting tackling criminals is the best way combatting Australia’s illegal tobacco trade.

He told Today on Wednesday his government opposed the Coalition and One Nation parties move to slash the excise, saying it would “wave the white flag” to criminals engaged in the black market.

But in a fiery exchange with Today co-hosts Tom Seinfeld and Sylvia Jeffreys he was pressed to “guarantee” there would not be cuts the tax.

“What I’m guaranteeing is we’ll take on the criminals. That’s what we’re doing ... what we’re saying is what we’re open to is to cracking down on criminals,” said Albanese. 

“That is what we are concentrating on. We’re not about to wave the white flag.”

Albanese said the federal and state governments were spending hundreds of millions of dollars in tackling illegal tobacco gangs.

He pointed to the seizure on Tuesday by Border Force officials of 1.7 million illicit cigarettes and thousands of vapes in the Northern Territory and Western Australia that his policy was working.

Albanese’s political opponents have announced major cuts in tobacco excise, insisting it would help kill the black market.

One Nation wants to slash the tax by 75 per cent, while the Coalition went further, proposing an 80 per cent reduction.

All tobacco sold in Australia is subject to an excise, which is indexed in March and September each year in line with average weekly ordinary-time earnings.

It has been in place since federation, but was hiked in the early 2000s to increase the price of cigarettes to drive down high smoking rates.

Today the price of an average pack of 20 cigarettes costs $50 to $55.

While Australians are smoking less, the higher price tag has pushed those who are still smoking increasingly towards a booming tobacco black market linked to organised crime.

Experts say making cigarettes cheaper would help kill the illicit trade, but health organisations say the priority should be to keep smoking rates as low as possible.