Sarah Witty (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026. This legislation responds to a problem that has changed rapidly in recent years. Illicit tobacco is no longer a problem on the edge of the economy; it has become tied to organised criminal activity, community safety concerns and growing risks to public health. Across the country, illegal tobacco products are being sold through unregulated networks with no oversight, no safety guards, no safety standards and no accountability for what these products actually contain. At the same time, criminal groups are making billions of dollars from the trade and using those profits to fund other serious criminal activities.

That is why our government is acting—to protect communities, protect public safety and stop criminal networks from embedding themselves deeper into Australian life. The Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner estimated the illicit tobacco market was worth between $4.1 billion and $6.9 billion in 2024, with illicit tobacco products making up to 50 to 60 per cent of all sales. That is an enormous criminal economy. These groups are not investing in this market by accident. They see huge profits and vast distribution networks and, until recently, they had a level of risk that did not match the harm being caused. These reforms change that equation. They expand law enforcement powers to investigate illicit tobacco offences, they strengthen proceeds-of-crime laws and they increase the consequences for criminals operating in this trade. If criminals are making billions from illicit tobacco, governments must be prepared to respond with the full strength of the law.

In my community, these laws will make a real difference. Melbourne is a city built around busy shopping strips, small businesses, hospitality venues and local places where people gather every single day. But people in Melbourne have also watched illegal tobacco shops spread quickly across retail areas and commercial precincts. Alongside that growth, there have been reports of violence, arson attacks, threats and intimidation linked to organised criminal activity. My constituents are rightly concerned. It affects workers locking up shops at night. It affects nearby businesses trying to operate honestly. And when criminals and activity criminal activity becomes more visible, more brazen and more violent, this chips away at public confidence.

I've been meeting with business associations across my electorate, including those on Victoria Street and Bridge Road and across the CBD. Their members are running honest businesses in a hard economy. They are managing rent, wages, insurance, supply costs and thin margins. They are doing the right thing. Then, in some places, we see the impacts of organised criminal activity spilling into our precincts. It affects the way people feel about their local shopping strips. It affects business confidence. It affects the sense of safety that local communities deserve.

We saw that danger clearly on Bridge Road in Richmond when a smoke shop was firebombed in the early hours of the morning. Not only was the smoke shop affected; whatever the circumstances, it was the neighbouring businesses that were forced to deal with the consequences. Workers at the bakery next door, Little Frenchie & Co, were close enough to see the smoke and flames. One worker, who said they had to move quickly, said, 'Quick! Move everything out the back.' The manager, Sam Razis, put it plainly: 'Little Frenchie's is our business. It is our livelihood, so to come so close to disaster is pretty awful.' That is the human reality behind this issue.

For nearby traders, this is not a line in a criminal report; it is their shopfront, their staff, their stock, their lease, their livelihood. And when illegal tobacco becomes tied to arson, intimidation and organised crime, the damage spreads beyond one premises. Communities should not have to get used to organised crime operating in plain sight. Honest small businesses should not have to compete beside enterprises that ignore the law entirely, because these are not victimless crimes. The impacts spread outwards. They damage trust, they undermine safety, and they place pressure on businesses and workers trying to do the right thing.

It matters on Victoria Street, Chapel Street, Swan Street, Errol Street, Brunswick Street and across the CBD. These places are more than commercial strips. They are where families run restaurants, cafes, groceries, pharmacies and retail stores. They are where workers rely on safe jobs and steady hours. They are where community life happens. That is why this bill matters to the community of Melbourne. It backs the businesses that contribute to the community, not the criminal networks that exploit it.

There is also a serious health concern sitting underneath this issue. Australians have spent decades reducing smoking rates and improving public awareness about the dangers of tobacco. That work has had a profound impact. Governments, health workers, community organisations and public health advocates have spent years driving smoking rates down and reducing the harm caused by tobacco products, but illicit tobacco creates a dangerous shadow market operating outside Australia's regulatory systems. These products are not subject to proper health checks, quality standards or legitimate oversight.

Regulation exists for a reason. Australians expect products sold in this country to meet proper standards, especially products that affect public health. Illicit tobacco bypasses all of that, and when criminal groups control the supply chain, public safety means nothing to them. Profit is the only goal. These networks are not interested in protecting people. They are interested in making money as quickly as possible, and if dangerous, poor-quality or unregulated products end up in Australian communities, that is simply treated as part of doing business. That is unacceptable.

This legislation recognises that illicit tobacco is not just unlawful trade; it is part of a broader criminal ecosystem that harms communities in multiple ways at once. The Albanese Labor government has understood the seriousness of this issue from the beginning. Since 2023-24, this government has committed $346 million to the Australian Border Force to crack down on illicit tobacco and vaping products. We have appointed Australia's first Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarettes Commissioner, and, in the 2025-26 budget, a further $21.3 million was committed to strengthening national coordination efforts. That work is already producing results.

Since January 2024, more than 14 million vaping products and accessories have been seized by the Australian Border Force. In 2024-25, the Australian Border Force seized 2.66 billion cigarettes, up more than 320 per cent on four years ago. That figure shows the scale, but it also shows that enforcement agencies are working to disrupt these operations before products reach Australian communities. This response has not relied on one agency acting alone. Criminal networks move quickly. They operate across borders, and they exploit gaps between systems wherever they can. That is why coordination matters. The Commonwealth cannot solve this issue alone. States and territories cannot solve it alone either. The response only works when governments share intelligence, co-ordinate enforcement and target these operations from multiple directions at once.

Through the National Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Coordination Forum, governments are working more closely together to strengthen enforcement, improve licensing systems, introduce tougher closure powers and target the structures that allow illegal operators to keep functioning. Victoria is part of the national effort. The Commonwealth plays a critical role at the border through intelligence sharing, through national coordination and through the agencies disrupting supply chains before these products reach Australian communities. States and territories play a different but equally important role through licensing systems, shop closures, local enforcement activity and stronger penalties targeting illegal operators on the ground. When those efforts work together, the impact is far stronger. Because organised crime does not stop at state borders, neither can the response.

Importantly, governments are recognising that shutting down one illegal shop is not enough on its own. If the financial networks, supply chains and criminal profits remain untouched, these operations simply reappear somewhere else. That is why one of the strongest parts of these reforms is a focus on criminal profits. Organised criminal activity survives through money. If these groups continue making enough profits from illicit tobacco, they will continue investing in this trade. These changes directly target that business model. They strengthen proceeds-of-crime laws. They improve information sharing between agencies, and they give law enforcement stronger tools to investigate unexplained wealth and confiscate criminal assets.

Dismantling these networks means more than shutting down one storefront; it means disrupting the financial structures underneath the trade itself. It means going after the profits that allow these organisations to expand. These groups treat their operations like businesses. They invest in supply chains, distribution, storage, cash movement, property and systems designed to hide profits. These reforms strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to follow that money and disrupt those structures, because, when government starts taking away criminal profits, property, vehicles and assets, the pressure on these illegal operations increases.

The reform also helps aid agencies dealing with serious illicit tobacco offending. That includes stronger surveillance, communication and disruptive powers. These powers are significant, and they should be because the groups involved in this trade are sophisticated and highly coordinated. Law enforcement agencies need modern tools that match the scale and complexity of the networks they are dealing with. These changes help ensure they have those tools.

Some people argue that the answer is to cut tobacco excise, but Australia should not surrender its health policy to organised crime. There is no realistic excise cut that would dismantle criminal supply chains already operating across borders, warehouses and illegal shopfronts. The answer is not to make smoking cheaper. The answer is to make illicit tobacco more risky and less profitable for criminals.

Importantly, this legislation recognises something that my community already understands instinctively. If governments do not act early, these problems become harder to contain. People want to feel safe in their shopping strips, neighbourhoods and local communities. My community wants confidence that organised criminal activity is being confronted directly, not ignored until it becomes even more entrenched. They want a government prepared to step in early. That is why the Albanese Labor government is coordinating a national response and strengthening the laws needed to deal with organised crime. Allowing illicit tobacco networks to continue growing unchecked would carry enormous consequences over time for public health, community safety and trust in the rule of law itself.

Australians expect laws to mean something. They expect governments to enforce standards fairly and consistently. When people see illegal operators functioning openly, selling unregulated products while criminal groups make billions in profits, confidence in the system starts to weaken. That is why visible enforcement matters. That is why strong penalties matter. That is why these reforms matter. They say clearly that organised networks will not be allowed to treat Australian communities as easy targets for profits.

Melbourne is a city that thrives on community life. People gather in cafes, support small businesses and build connections through space. Those places should feel vibrant and welcoming. These reforms help protect the sense of community confidence. They support the honest businesses who operate legally, employ workers properly and contribute positively to city life. Every time illegal tobacco products enter Australia through illegal supply chains, the risk grows louder, longer and larger. There's a risk to public health and a risk to public safety. I commend this bill to the House.

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