Price of cigarettes surges again with a pack of 20 now costing $35

LEVI PARSONS
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

1 September 2020

Smokers across Australia have yet another reason to quit from today.

A 20 pack of cigarettes will rise to $35 a packet September 1, as the federal government’s tobacco excise increases for the second time this year by 12.5 per cent.

That means a pack-a-day smoker will be shelling out about $12,500 a years for sparking up.

NSW Nationals MP Michael Johnsen who smoked for 40 years, told 3AW radio that more should be done to encourage vaping – an alternative he says is cheaper and safer.

‘We hear the federal government want to ban it all together. I think rather than banning it, in NSW we should be taking the lead and the federal government should be coming along with us in terms of legalising, regulating and taxing it,’ Mr Johnsen said.

‘It should be used as a way for people that want to get off smoking, to transition out of smoking.’

A year’s worth of vaping costs about $1000 in contrast, but at the moment laws around vaping are somewhat complex and all states and territories have their own legislation regarding the sale of e-cigarettes.

Under Australian poison regulations, the possession and use of nicotine for vaping is effectively banned.

But vaporisers and e-cigarettes can be sold without liquid nicotine by vendors.

A person can then legally obtain a prescription for liquid nicotine however most users obtain the highly addictive substance illegally.

‘If you look at it in practical terms, rather than spend $12,000 – if they spend $1,000 on vaping or $2,000 because you taxed it – they’d be happy with that and they’d be saving a lot of money and we would be regulating it, so it would be a safe method and a very safe product,’ Mr Johnsen said.

‘We’d actually be helping the community become a lot healthier.’

The Australian government rakes in about $17billion dollars a year in tobacco tax.

This has led to a surge in black market tobacco trade as organised crime syndicates flood the Australian market with cheap smokes.

The illegal tobacco trade is worth about 600million dollars annually, according to the Australian Border Force.

Although there is some scientific evidence to support the notion that vaping is safer than traditional tobacco products, other studies around the globe have concluded e-cigarettes can still cause serious harm.

With the world now in the grips of a once-in-a lifetime pandemic virus that attacks the lungs and respiratory system, health experts say there has never been a better time to quit.

‘You are about twice as likely to have severe COVID disease if you are a current or past smoker compared to someone who has never smoked,’ said Matthew Peters, head of respiratory medicine at Sydney’s Concord Hospital told the ABC.

‘Smoking is bad for your lungs and this is a particularly good time to not be a smoker and not have that damage going on.

‘The sooner you can act, the better. You cut the risk of wound infections, chest infections and pneumonia, as well as heart attacks and strokes.’

Cigarettes are expected to cost $40 per packet by 2020 thanks to yearly tax hikes supported by both major political parties. 

Smokers have been slugged with five consecutive 12.5 per cent tobacco excise increases since 2013.

A further hike of that size has now been introduced on September 1. 

The last Labor government first introduced the massive tax hikes. The policy was matched by Liberal Treasurer Scott Morrison in 2016.   

In Budget papers, Mr Morrison’s government claimed ‘one of the most effective ways to discourage smoking is to increase the price of cigarettes. 

‘Increases in tobacco excise over the last two decades have contributed to significant declines in the number of people smoking daily.’

But the consumption of cigarettes rose for the first time in more than a decade in the final quarter of 2017, deviating from a long term trend.

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