| I just think we need a rethink on the excise. It's just too high, Mr Minns said. |
** Labor premier breaks ranks to slam Albanese government's tax policy For Australian Associated Press
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I just think we need a rethink on the excise. It's just too high, Mr Minns said. 23/07/2026 - (Story by Jacob Shteyman)
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney-Middle East Times Int'l: Calls are growing for the federal government to cut the tobacco excise to kill off the nicotine black market, with a Labor leader trashing the tax.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the massive excise on legal cigarettes was fuelling illicit tobacco, in his latest broadside on the federal government policy.
'It feels sometimes like we're standing on a beach trying to stop the tide from coming in,' he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
Various studies have exposed the proliferation of black market tobacco in recent years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated 80 per cent of all tobacco consumed in 2025 was illicit, up from 12 per cent in 2017.
I just think we need a rethink on the excise. It's just too high, Mr Minns said.
'Before people jump on me and say that means that you're pro-smoking, I'm not. I can't stand the tobacco companies, but this is just a policy that's not working.
His federal counterparts have steadfastly refused to countenance lowering the tobacco excise, which adds $30 to a standard 20-pack of cigarettes and creates a vast price differential driving the profitability of illicit alternatives. |
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