Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to address a matter of urgent and ongoing concern to small businesses in the Flynn electorate and, indeed, across regional Australia. It is unfortunate that two of my speeches today have focused on dealing with the lack of support for regional areas. Our small business owners are already doing it tough, with rising energy and transport costs impacting their ability to run their businesses. They are also dealing with illegal competition, not from another business working under rules and regulation but from the illegal tobacco trade.

Tobacco, like alcohol, is strictly regulated. As retailers, the businesses are responsible for complying with the new tobacco laws and obligations, including the smoking product supplier licence in Queensland. This new licence includes mandatory employee training and the additional requirement that employees must be over 18 years of age even to sell smoking products in their businesses. This is another issue for small businesses that employ young people. They are now forced to meet this new requirement, which is impacting on their staffing levels. My understanding is that there will be job losses in many communities, as juniors will need to be replaced with adult staff members to comply.

At the same time, just across the road, there's another retailer selling cigarettes and chop-chop illegally, but it's not hidden. This is the black market in full view. There are no secret deals and no back road meetings. This is easily verifiable and reported trade. These illegal shops have been identified and reported to the Queensland police, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Border Force, Queensland Health and even local councils, with video and photographic evidence all provided. As law-abiding citizens, you feel that this is all that would be needed to attract attention and that action would be swift. After all, these government agencies are supposed to be working together to target the black-market trade. Months later, these illegal operators continue to sell their chop-chop with no penalty.

The new Queensland government announced tougher penalties and flying squad raids were carried out which resulted in 15 million illegal cigarettes being seized. Honest retailers were seeing unprecedented enforcement, but not all reports and tip-offs were followed. In regional areas of Flynn, our businesses are still being impacted, despite their efforts to report these illegal operators and shops. My constituents continue to cry out for equal justice in the regions, where their businesses are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why are they being ignored? Why is no action being taken on these reports? They are facing the very real threat of bankruptcy because nothing has been done to stop this illegal trade from operating across the streets from their legitimate businesses.

As Australians, we believe in a fair and equitable justice system where we abide by the rules and laws set down by our parliaments, both state and federal, and by our court systems and the police. The penalties and processes are in place to deal with these illegal operators. Queensland has introduced tough new laws, including the ability to shut down these shops, along with massive fines for operators, which extend to the landlords who lease these premises to the illegal trade. The swift enforcement of these laws must be prioritised, especially where the evidence has been provided directly to those tasked with keeping law and order in our communities.

As the receiver of taxes from the tobacco trade, where is the Albanese government in this? The Treasurer would have a vested interest in seeing this illegal trade stopped due to the revenue the legal trade brings to Australian coffers. Surely he would want to help our small retailers in their efforts to stamp out the black market that is forcing them out of their businesses. Every packet of legal cigarettes contributes about $35 in tobacco excise. With the recent budget forecast, the Treasurer knows the impact of the black market on revenue. This is a $4.5 billion hole in the budget. If there were a genuine reduction in the amount of people smoking, and we saw the improved health benefits that come with this, then we'd be celebrating. But, with the knowledge of the thriving black market trade and the flow-on effects in our community, there's no celebrating, with businesses closing and the resultant loss of jobs. As the re-elected member for Flynn, I will continue to advocate for these issues facing my constituents, and I will always fight for jobs and small businesses in the Flynn electorate.

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