Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Families and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

This piece of legislation, the Customs Amendment (Collecting Tobacco Duties at the Border) Bill 2018, is part of a range of measures to crack down on the proliferation of illicit tobacco in Australia. This bill, along with two others which are due to be debated later this week, implements measures in the 2018-19 budget under the banner 'Black Economy Package'.

Labor is supporting the passage of this bill to stop illicit tobacco and ultimately improve health outcomes for Australians. Our commitment on this side of the house is to stop the scourge of tobacco, and that speaks for itself. Smoking is the single most important preventable cause of ill health and death in Australia, accounting for more than 15,000 deaths each year. Labor governments have led the way and made significant advancements towards drastically reducing that number.

The bill will require tobacco importers to pay import duty on tobacco products upon importation into Australia from 1 July 2019. This removes the option of imported tobacco products entering Australia and a licensed warehouse without the payment of import duties. Labor supports these measures to tackle the black economy and to stop illicit tobacco entering the supply chain. Illicit tobacco is tobacco sold to Australian consumers without the payment of relevant taxes, and it's reported that close to a quarter of the illegal tobacco sold in Australia is actually leakage from licensed warehouses. By applying duties at the border rather than when tobacco leaves the warehouses, we're closing this loophole and the potential for illicit tobacco to be spreading in Australia. I support the bill.