The federal Coalition’s proposal to slash tobacco excise by 80% and make vapes more accessible would undermine decades of public health efforts and could drive more Australians back to smoking, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA).
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said the decision by the Coalition to align its policy with One Nation’s tobacco excise policy defied both evidence and common sense and was the kind of masterplan dreamt up by big tobacco executives.
“Making cigarettes more affordable is not the answer to tackling the illicit tobacco trade and would undermine Australia’s world leading public health efforts to reduce smoking,” Dr McMullen said.
“Tobacco taxation has been a major contributor to Australia’s historically declining smoking rates,” she said.
“Lower cigarette prices would likely increase smoking rates, particularly among price-sensitive groups such as young people and people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, widening health inequities.”
Dr McMullen said the Coalition appeared to be prioritising a simplistic political fix over evidence-based public health policy, despite tobacco remaining one of Australia’s leading causes of preventable death and disease.
“There’s also very limited evidence that dramatically cutting tobacco taxes is an effective long-term public health strategy, and it could result in increased legal tobacco consumption even if illicit trade falls.
“The illegal tobacco trade has flourished in countries where cigarettes are far cheaper than in Australia and there is no evidence reducing the excise will affect that trade.”
International learnings
Reducing the tobacco excise as a way of tackling the illegal tobacco industry was a simplistic, misguided and ineffective solution to a complex problem, Dr McMullen said, citing examples of international markets.
“Canada halved its tobacco excise to combat smuggling across the US border, but the move led to more people, particularly young people smoking, and fewer people quitting,” she said.
“Meanwhile the illegal trade persists even in countries with much cheaper cigarettes, including in countries like Vietnam, the Philippines and Senegal where tobacco is very cheap.”
“If we look to the United Kingdom, when taxes on tobacco were introduced, the illicit trade rose but instead of cutting taxes under pressure from the tobacco industry, the government kept the tax and implemented a comprehensive enforcement strategy and the size of the illicit trade of tobacco declined.” Dr McMullen said there are alternative approaches to combating illicit tobacco that do not require making cigarettes cheaper, including stronger border enforcement, supply-chain controls, retailer licensing, intelligence sharing, and targeted criminal enforcement.
