The cost of a packet of cigarettes will spike another 12.5 per cent in September
The hike will see a 25 pack of Marlboro Golds cost an eye-watering $48.50
Even people who roll their own cigarettes are not immune from the tax hike
Despite massive price hikes smoking rates in adults have stalled, statistics say
KELSEY WILKIE and DANIEL PIOTROWSKI
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
20 January 2020
The price of Australian cigarettes are set to rise again this year by another 12.5 per cent – taking the average packet to almost $50.
From September, Australians will be paying one of the highest prices in the world for a packet of cigarettes, with a 25 pack of Marlboro Golds costing an eye-watering $48.50.
The cheapest pack will be about $29.
The price hike will be the eighth consecutive yearly increase, and is part of the government’s attempt to reduce tobacco use.
However, experts claim the soaring prices punishes those who are addicted and further stimulates the black market.
People looking to save a buck by rolling their own sticks are not immune to the tax sting, with prices for a bag of tobacco jumping by a similar amount.
A pack-a-day smoker will now likely spend over $10,000 a year on their habit.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) found price hikes were ‘the single most effective way to encourage tobacco users to quit and prevent children from starting to smoke’.
However, Dr Colin Mendelsohn, from the University of NSW’s school of public health, previously told Daily Mail Australia the tax hikes were no longer having the big impact on smoking rates they once did.
Colin Mendelsohn said the tax hikes are no longer having a big impact on smoking rates
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), price hikes were ‘the single most effective way to encourage tobacco users to quit and prevent children from starting to smoke’.
But data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of adults who smoke daily has been stagnant in recent years – dropping only 0.7 per cent between 2014-15 and 2017-18.
Figures had plunged from 23.8 per cent in 1995 to 13.8 per cent in 2017-18.
Dr Mendelsohn said: ‘We’ve traditionally always known increasing taxes reduces smoking once.
‘But once you get to this eyewatering level people who are addicted will say, ‘I have no choice I have to keep smoking anyway.
‘You just don’t get the benefit anymore. All you’re doing is punishing the addicted smokers who can’t quit and stimulating the black market.’
Last year there was an increase in the amount of tobacco being sold on the black market.
More than 300 tonnes of smuggled contraband was seized by officials, WA Today reported.
WA Border Force commander Rod O’Donnell said there was a lot of money to be made in the illegal trade.
While admitting the cost of cigarettes was contributing to the explosion in the industry, he supported the high excise.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison himself announced the regular tax hit when he was the treasurer in 2016.
Handing down the 2016-17 budget, Mr Morrison said the excise hikes would net the government $4.7 billion over four years.
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