Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

The only person happier about that than me was Senator Paterson, who, we might recall, at the most recent estimates, was the acting temporary interim shadow home affairs minister. It's good to have an actual shadow home affairs minister, and I look forward to seeing you at estimates.

I think I was asked a question about this in the last fortnight, and the point I made there was that the government has taken serious action about what is a serious problem, and that is the growth of illicit tobacco. We provided $256.4 million in funding in 2023-24 to Border Force to strengthen the border against illegal tobacco and vaping products. There is a substantial amount of work being undertaken in combination with state and territory police forces to combat illegal tobacco. For example, we've set up the Illegal Tobacco National Disruption Group, which comprises the AFP and other federal agencies and every state and territory police force. We recognise this as a serious problem. It's going to take a lot of effort not just from federal government agencies but from state and territory agencies. We remain committed to supporting them.