Laban Ditchburn

Media Release: One Nation to cut tobacco tax to smash organised crime Australia’s tobacco excise policy has failed and is now underwriting organised crime. One Nation will cut tobacco excise by 75 per cent, pause indexation for three years and pair the cut with tougher action against organised crime. One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said Australians were sick of criminal gangs terrorising their communities and getting rich while the Albanese government pretends their policy is still working. “People are sick of the firebombing, shootings, extortion and killings. They are sick of watching tobacco shops burn, while organised crime takes control of the market. “Victoria Police says there have been 193 tobacco arsons and six homicides directly attributed to the trade. Innocent victims have been killed by arsonists who attacked the wrong home. This is not a victimless crime. “Labor’s policy is failing. ABS estimates show illicit sources supplied 80 per cent of nicotine consumed in 2025, while total consumption rose almost 40 per cent between 2017 and 2025. “Legal tobacco is being replaced by black-market cigarettes. Excise in a packet of 20 is now about $30.60 and is scheduled to rise again in September. “Excise revenue is in free-fall, dropping from $12.6 billion in 2022–23 to an estimated $4.1 billion in 2025–26 and $3.6 billion this financial year. Labor has not only lost the revenue, it has lost control of the black market in illegal tobacco. Every budget prediction they have made on excise has been wrong, wrong, wrong. “One Nation will cut excise by 75 per cent and pause indexation for three years. Passed through in full, a $46.50 legal pack would fall to about $21 or $22. “Senate inquiry evidence put illicit packs at roughly $12 to $25. Our plan makes legal tobacco competitive and attacks the gangs’ extraordinary profit margin. “The cut will be matched with stronger border enforcement, faster shop closures, tougher penalties for traffickers and attack organisers, and aggressive seizure of criminal assets and unexplained wealth. “We do not blame Australians under cost-of-living pressure for stretching their budgets. We blame a government that kept doubling down while organised crime built a multibillion-dollar market. “This is not about encouraging smoking. It is about restoring the rule of law and breaking the black market. “Labor handed this market to organised crime. One Nation will take it back.”