Business owners who sell illegal tobacco products will be easier to prosecute under a fresh push to smash the trade, which includes using cheaper prices as proof of illicit trading.
Laws being introduced to federal parliament on Thursday will overhaul customs rules to make it easier for illegal tobacco to be seized.
Under previous customs rules, it had to be proved illicit tobacco was being knowingly imported illegally.
The reforms will mean cigarettes being sold for less than the amount of excise and GST, presented in different packaging or being concealed would be enough for authorities to charge.
Assistant customs minister Julian Hill said the measures would bring customs rules up to date to properly tackle the scourge of illegal tobacco.
“It’ll give powerful new tools to border force, but every state and territory police force to go after the crooks,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“This is a major global problem, and Australia’s not immune. It’s this massive surplus of cheap production of stuff for less than $1 a pack that’s been weaponised by serious and organised criminal syndicates flooding national borders.”
The measures follow the coalition pledging to cut the tobacco excise by 80 per cent in a bid to stop the rise of illegal cigarettes.
The response came after One Nation said it would cut the excise by 75 per cent.
About 80 per cent of all tobacco consumed in 2025 was illegal, up from 12 per cent in 2017, according to estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
At the same time, the tobacco excise has more than tripled.
Opponents have said the government increasing the excise by 34 per cent since it came to office in 2022 has contributed to a burgeoning black market and a wave of fire bombings on tobacco and vape sellers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday left the door open to cutting the tobacco excise, but also said making legal tobacco and vapes more affordable was not going to help.
“State governments as well have a responsibility to crack down on shops that are selling illegal products,” he said.
Mr Hill said he expected to have support across the parliament for the customs changes.
“They’re exactly the powers which our law enforcement officials have been asking for,” he said.
“The way to really hurt these crooks is to go after their cash and their houses and their boats and their cars and their toys and take the profits of their crime off them.”
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