Queensland Sees 55% Surge in Legal Cigarette Sales After Crackdown on Illicit Tobacco

Legal cigarette sales in Queensland have surged by 55 per cent in the first month after new enforcement laws took effect, with the state's sales remaining 40 to 45 per cent above previous levels for the following six months.

The increase comes as the state gained stronger powers to shut down illegal shops, while the national market remained largely flat during the same period.

Enforcement Efforts Paying Off

According to data from major supermarkets and other retailers, Queensland's intensified crackdown on illegal cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and vapes is expected to generate $89 million in additional tobacco excise revenue and a further $11 million in GST gains over two years.

Calls to Quitline also more than doubled in the 10 days following major enforcement operations, suggesting the crackdown may be encouraging some smokers to quit.

Assistant Minister for Customs Julian Hill said the Queensland results showed strong laws and enforcement, along with work between governments, was "helping turn the tide" on Australia's illicit tobacco trade.

"This really reinforces the critical importance and urgency of the states and territories shutting the shops as it has an immediate impact," he said.

"Queensland's results, building on South Australia's pioneering approach, show that sustained street-level enforcement can disrupt illegal markets and drive consumers back to legitimate products."

Mr Hill said organised crime groups had treated illicit tobacco as a "low-risk, high-profit enterprise for too long".

"Those days are coming to an end," he said.

"We are making it harder for criminals to operate, harder for illicit products to reach consumers, and harder for organised crime to profit."

Mr Hill said every Australian could "play their part" by reporting suspicious illicit tobacco retail activity to Borderwatch or Crimestoppers.

Enforcement Success in Queensland

Queensland Health has issued more than 300 closure orders since November last year, contributing to more than 1,000 illicit tobacco shops shuttered across Australia.

The state is using licensing regimes, closure orders, landlord penalties, and resourcing for street-level enforcement to target illegal retailers.

New laws that took effect late last year gave Queensland Health the power to shut shops for up to 90 days without a court order, while landlords who knowingly leased premises to illicit tobacco and vape operators face fines of up to $161,300 and 12 months imprisonment.

A recent 10-day Operation Major enforcement blitz resulted in 148 stores issued with three-month closure orders.

Authorities also seized more than 11.8 million cigarettes, 1.7 tonnes of loose tobacco, 87,000 vapes, 4.2 litres of vaping liquid, and 270,000 nicotine pouches with a collective estimated street value of $15.7 million.

Coalition, States Question Approach

The Coalition had vowed to cut the tobacco excise by 80 per cent if elected, dropping the price of a standard pack from between $40 and $50 to about $16 to $26.

One Nation wants to slash the tax on cigarettes by 75 per cent and freeze indexation for three years.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said a dramatic price reduction would smash the thriving black market, alongside a $200 million law enforcement "surge".

The federal government has committed more than $365 million to enforcement action since coming into office.

Coalition policy would also legalise, regulate, and tax vapes and nicotine pouches for adults.

Parliamentary Budget Office modelling found the Coalition's policy would increase tax revenue by about $8 billion over four years, about double current forecasts.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said bringing legal prices close to those on the black market was the best way to "cut off the cash for organised crime".

The government had been critical of any plan to cut the excise, with Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek claiming it would "kill people".

But Monash MP Mary Aldred, who co-chaired an internal Coalition task force on illegal tobacco, said violence linked to the black market, including firebombings, was "killing people right now".