Crime gangs behind Australia’s illicit tobacco crisis are today rubbing their hands together with glee, following the Albanese Government ‘s decision to slap yet another 6.7 percent tax hike on legal tobacco products that will divert even more Australians to buy dodgy smokes for as little as $7.50 a packet.
The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare said the Federal Government’s claim that continued tax hikes on legal tobacco products forced Australians to quit smoking were “an outright lie when you look at the government’s own data”.
“The sustained tax hikes are meant to incentivise Australians to quit smoking but it has failed, and we now
have a situation where adults who choose to smoke are buying cheap, illegal products smuggled in from
overseas and openly sold at dodgy shops everywhere and online,” Mr Foukkare said.
“Criminologists and leading economists have continually warned the government that the continued tax
hikes on legal tobacco are creating more and more demand on the black market but the Albanese Government has again ignored their expert advice”
“The Government’s ignorance has now created one of – if not – the biggest health, community safety and revenue policy failure that Australia has ever seen,” Mr Foukkare said,
“In the real world, legal retailers have lost $3 billion dollars in the first six months of 2025, meaning the government revenue from legal sales has also taken a massive hit.
“The higher the tax, the cheaper the black-market charges for illegal smokes because competition within the black market is intensifying.
“Illicit smokes and tobacco are more available than ever and less regulated than ever,” he said.
“In the real world, one in two cigarettes smoked are illegal; crime gangs are controlling the black market and using the profit to fund extremely hideous crimes like human trafficking and class A drug trafficking.
Our members who abide by the law are being threatened with extortion and stand over tactics from the black market gangs, which is terrifying and it happens to them on a daily occurrence”
“There now been 250 firebombings; we’ve seen people murdered, ram raids and stores selling legal tobacco products robbed of their tobacco products almost daily – this has to stop.”
“It’s dire but the good news is there is a simple fix that we are desperately calling on the Albanese Government to adopt right now,: Mr Foukarre said.
“We need the government to stop these excise hikes, half the excise tax and by doing that – they’ll starve
the black market of demand because gangs won’t have any customers and adults who do choose to smoke will return to buying government approved, strictly regulated, legal tobacco.
“Regulating vapes will also cut off the black market’s demand and help regain control by the government,
with only approved retailers able to sell strictly regulated vapes to adults – the same way alcohol is sold.
“It’s time the federal government stopped ignoring their own agencies data, stopped listening to academics who live in academia world and who are not experiencing this major crisis first-hand, and instead start listening to the New South Wales and Victorian Labor Governments calls for review on excise, alongwith the expert advice of leading economists, criminologists and responsible retailers.
“Unless they strip the demand for the illegal market, it’s game over.
The new big tobacco in Australia is actually big, organised crime and nicotine consumption will only continue to increase exponentially.
“The problem is huge, but the solution is simple, and it is now time for the government to do what is right to stamp out these dangerous crime gangs,” Mr Foukkare said.
Theo Foukkare is available for interview on 0423 003 133
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