Press Releases

The Queensland Parliament’s move to strictly licence and police the sale of tobacco products has been welcomed by the nation’s peak body for convenience stores. Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare said the move would finally give authorities the power to prosecute and shut down renegade operators that deliberately break the law. One in five packets of cigarettes sold in Australia today are from the black market, and all nicotine vaping products are being sold illegally – they’re also being brought in and distributed by these criminals. “We’ve been working collaboratively with the Queensland State Government’s working group and calling for this for a long time, we are happy to see the new legislation now passed” Mr Foukkare said. Under the new laws strict rules will be put in place for any business that applies for a licence to sell tobacco products. “As part of AACS recommendations…

The Health Minister’s blatant failure to allocate a single dollar towards black market vaping enforcement in the budget shows that he has no real plan to manage the escalating youth vaping crisis. “Despite announcing a ‘vape police’ crackdown last week, the Health Minister has not developed any solid plan, nor has he sought funding from the Treasury, his own Department, Cabinet, or the Expenditure Review Committee,” ACCS CEO Theo Foukkare said “Doubling down on the failed prescription-only prohibition framework, without any funding for enforcement, is nothing short of catastrophic. “The more than 90 million illegal vapes flooding our shores from China will only continue to grow, with criminal syndicates laughing at the Minister’s non-existent attempt to address this crisis. “The Health Minister’s incompetence is further compounded by the Australian Government’s decision to slash funding for the Australian Border Force (ABF) border enforcement program. “Rather than bolstering border enforcement to combat…

Questions have been raised over how effective the Federal Government’s latest plan to tackle the youth vaping crisis will be, especially when it comes to stamping out the nicotine vape black market. Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare labelled today’s announcement a ‘rebadging’ of current failed policy. “Any move to address youth vaping is a positive thing, however our members fear this is simply not going to work because it’s just rebadging current policy framework that even Health Minister Mark Butler has admitted is a failure,” ACCS CEO Theo Foukkare said.  “It’s all well and good to say, ‘we’re going to crack down at the border’ and ‘we’ll work all those details out at another time’, but I don’t think people understand how difficult that actually is and how costly that is.  “If it was easy and affordable, of course that would be the solution, but it…

Small business petrol station owners have called on the Federal Government to help fund critical power grid upgrades that would allow them to install fast charging bays for electric vehicles (EVs). Australian Association of Convenience Stores (ACCS) CEO Theo Foukkare said business owners wanted to offer the renewable energy option, however most were not able to fund the half a million-dollar cost. “We’ve got thousands of AACS members across the nation that want to go green – but they’re not able to get their hands on half a million dollars on their own. The Federal Government’s this week released its Electric Vehicle Strategy, which aims to boost supply and demand of EVs, which Mr Foukkare welcomed. “AACS is supportive of any plan to help Australians reduce emissions,” he said. “However, we really think a government funded program that helps small business owners to pay for these critical upgrades is essential…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has partnered with Hexis Quadrant, to form The Commercial Academy for AACS, and bring bespoke commercial training to retailers and suppliers in the convenience sector. The partnership was announced at last week’s AACS Connect 23 Summit in Melbourne and has already generated a great deal of interest within the industry from suppliers and retailers alike. Through the partnership, AACS members will have access to a range of unique, industry-specific training programs designed to help improve operational efficiency, drive growth, and achieve business goals.Theo Foukkare, CEO, AACS, explained the reason why he feels The Commercial Academy for AACS will become a vital resource for the convenience industry. “Through discussions with retailers and suppliers, it quickly became apparent that a lot of the training programs available are very expensive and in a lot of cases, only available to the larger multinational organisations. “AACS is striving…

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has been accused of launching a smear campaign against thousands of responsible Australian retailers in a desperate attempt to deflect from his failure to shut down the nation’s out of control nicotine vape black market. Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare said comments by Mr Butler, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, that claimed convenience stores and petrol stations were deliberately selling nicotine vapes to children amounted to slander. “We have over 6,500 members who’ve each made a commitment to be responsible retailers, and many are small family businesses trying to make an honest living– yet Mark Butler is demonising them for a problem that he has the power to fix. “There is no doubt kids are getting their hands on dodgy nicotine vapes from shifty shopfronts–but they’re not AACS members. “If Mr Butler – or anyone else for that matter –…