Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to guarantee that a Labor government would not cut tobacco excise, while insisting the government’s priority remains tackling criminals involved in Australia’s illicit tobacco trade.

Albanese was asked repeatedly whether he would rule out a reduction in the excise as the political debate over the growing black market intensifies.

He said the government wanted to keep putting downward pressure on smoking rates and argued that making vapes widely available would not help achieve that goal.

When asked directly whether he would guarantee there would be no tobacco excise cut under Labor, Albanese declined to make that commitment.

“No, what I’m guaranteeing is we’ll take on the criminals. That’s what we’re doing,” Albanese said. “We’re not about to wave the white flag.”

The comments come as tobacco excise has become a major federal political issue, with the Coalition proposing an 80 per cent cut to the tax and arguing that lower legal prices could help undermine the illicit market. The government has argued instead that the problem should be tackled through enforcement and action against organised crime.

For now, Albanese has left open the possibility of a future change to tobacco excise while making clear that Labor’s immediate focus is on disrupting the criminal trade and maintaining pressure on smoking rates.

Source: The Guardian