Tackling Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette Sales
Thursday 6 March 2025
Second Reading Debate - Statutes Amendment (Tobacco and E-Cigarette Products—Closure Orders and Offices) Bill 2025
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (15:46): I rise today in support of the Statutes Amendment (Tobacco and E-Cigarette Products—Closure Orders and Offences) Bill 2025. Tobacco smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Australia. In South Australia right now, there are approximately 260,000 adult smokers, about two-thirds of whom will be killed by their smoking if they do not quit. We need to do whatever we can to stop people smoking and vaping and prevent people from taking it up in the first place. Disrupting supply is one way we can do that.
The primary purpose of this bill before us today is to expand SAPOL's powers to tackle illicit tobacco and e-cigarette sales in South Australia. Consumer and Business Services have had responsibility for licensing and the enforcement of functions related to illegal sales of e-cigarettes and tobacco since July last year. Consumer and Business Services now assess new licensing applications, ensure existing licensees are complying with the law, and investigate and prosecute offenders. Our new closure orders, which allow authorised officers and the courts to immediately close down unlawful activity relating to illicit tobacco, have proven to be very successful. The Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs has utilised the new closure laws to issue six interim closure orders since December 2024.
In addition to these increased compliance powers, the Malinauskas Labor government has passed legislation that seeks to directly counter the sale of e-cigarettes and illicit tobacco to children and young people, including banning the supply of vapes to anyone under 18, even by prescription; banning vending machine sales of tobacco products in public areas; and creating smoke-free and vape-free buffer zones for enclosed public transport areas.
I would like to share a story from my electorate of Elder and the office in relation to this bill. Last year, we received an email from a local resident. Attached was a picture of a massage parlour on my section of South Road, and handwritten on an A-frame outside the shop was 'cheap cigarettes and vapes'. This concerned local had contacted me to find out if it was legal to sell cheap cigarettes and vapes from a little shop on South Road.
Accordingly, my staff forwarded the email and picture to our local police, who were very responsive and helpful—we are very grateful to them—and little more than a few days later we received a call from the sergeant to let us know that yes, in fact, the massage parlour was selling illegal tobacco and vapes. The shop's stock was seized and the owners were fined $3,000. Our constituent was very pleased that his quick email through to our office had shut down an illegal seller. Unfortunately, not all illegal sellers of illicit tobacco and e-cigarettes are quite so transparent or brazen as to put a sign out onto South Road, so tougher compliance approaches are necessary to tackle the criminal activity responsible for distributing these substances throughout our communities.
Enforcement agency intelligence has identified that up to 75 per cent of the illicit trade of tobacco and e-cigarette products in Australia is being controlled by organised crime groups. The Commissioner of Police has rightly requested additional powers to confront the challenges in policing this issue. We, as a government, are prepared to act to provide our enforcement agencies with the legislative instruments they need to prevent children and young people's exposure to these poisons. These amendments will introduce greater police enforcement powers. The bill will also bring in:
new penalty levels and increased fines of up to $6.6 million for supply and possession of commercial quantities of illicit tobacco and vapes;
the creation of new offences for a person who allows a premises to be used for prohibited conduct, such as the sale of illicit products; and
enhanced information-sharing powers to support enforcement operations and allow for improved communication with owners, building managers and the public.
South Australia Police will be able to undertake general drug detection and random weapon and explosive searches, including the use of detection dogs and metal detectors in locations suspected of unlawful conduct relating to illicit tobacco, e-cigarettes or other prohibited products.
The Malinauskas Labor government will ensure we have the harshest fines of any state or territory in the country for supplying or possessing commercial and large commercial quantities of these prohibited products. Because, as we all know, vaping and smoking do serious damage to everyone, and especially to our children and young people. As a parent, I hate the idea of my child taking up smoking or taking up vaping, and I am sure every person in this chamber and in this building feels the same. No-one is going to be celebrating that.
We do presently see improvements in vaping and smoking rates among 15 to 29 year olds, which have reduced by about a third when compared to 2023. This is a direct result of what we have been doing to support our schools, with training for staff, social media campaigns and increased resources all contributing to the reduction in youth vaping. Education department data shows suspensions relating to vaping have reduced, a sure indication that what we are currently doing is working.
My worry, and I am sure I am not alone in this, is that an increasing number of illicit tobacco and vaping products coming into the market has the potential to interrupt our successes, so we must support our enforcement agencies to keep South Australians safe from these deadly products. With this amendment bill, our government is showing its commitment to improving public health and safety outcomes in South Australia. I commend the bill to the house.
