A pack of legal cigarettes would be around $30 cheaper under a coalition policy that it says will help stub out the growing black market for illicit tobacco.
After One Nation proposed a 75 per cent cut to the tobacco excise in August, Liberal Leader Angus Taylor is now pushing for it to be slashed by 80 per cent, which would see a packet of cigarettes fall to prices not seen since 2013.
Mr Taylor, who is seeking to counter a surge in popularity for Pauline Hanson’s party that has also seen support for his coalition drop to near-record lows, said he’s confident making legal cigarettes competitive would smash the illegal trade.
“I understand business, and sadly, this is a bad business that we have to destroy,” Mr Taylor told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday.
“We’ve got the worst of all worlds right now, with rising smoking, rising crime, and the result of this is that there’s less tax revenue for the government.”
The excise, which adds about $1.55 to the cost of every cigarette to take the average price of a legal pack of 25 sticks past $50, has been blamed for a surge in organised criminal activity and a wave of firebombings on retailers in the major cities.
An estimated 80 per cent of all tobacco consumed in 2025 was illicit, up from 12 per cent in 2017, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
A coalition-led inquiry, which handed down its final report on Friday, called for an immediate pause to the excise and further investigation into possible impacts of lowering taxes.
The Albanese government has resisted making any change to the excise, which reaps billions from the excise every year, despite growing pressure from economists and NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns.
Senior government minister Tanya Plibersek has rubbished the opposition’s policy, labelling it a race to the bottom.
“It will kill people. Like seriously, we have some of the lowest smoking rates in the world because cigarettes are expensive.” Ms Plibersek said on News24.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge has echoed these accusations and said the coalition policy ignores public health concerns.
Meanwhile, deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume is adamant the coalition has not copied the homework of One Nation.
“This is not a slogan. This is not a headline. This is a solution to a policy problem, a failure of this government,” she told Channel Nine’s Today.
The coalition’s policy includes a $200 million for law enforcement and a further $60 million for a public health campaign to discourage taking up a smoking habit.
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