The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare says Health Minister Mark Butler's admission today that illicit tobacco has "exploded" in Australia is a late concession that his approach has failed - and that his policies are fuelling the very crisis he now claims to be tackling.
Mr Foukkare said no overseas market faces an illicit tobacco crisis on the scale of Australia's and the Minister is scrambling to save face as his legacy in tobacco control lies in tatters.
"For the Minister to suggest every country faces the same problem is a complete falsehood. In Australia, an innocent woman has died, another was shot and more than 250 firebombings have been linked to the trade - violence unseen anywhere else in the developed world," Mr Foukkare said.
"The Government has handed every crime gang in Australia a licence to print money. They've tossed $300 million at the states to clean up his mess - pocket money in a billion-dollar black market."
Mr Foukkare said the Minister's framing of illicit tobacco as a global problem ignored the fact that Australia's is uniquely severe.
"Countries like Sweden and Germany have sensible excise rates, regulated vapes and some of the lowest smoking rates in the world. Meanwhile, this Health Minister has dragged tobacco control back to the 70s - when smokes were cheap, there were no health warnings and smoking was sexy," Mr Foukkare said.
"The government is presiding over a multibillion-dollar black market empire that is fuelling youth nicotine addiction at record levels.
"It's time for the Minister to meet with those on the frontline of this fight and agree to pragmatic solutions that keep smoking rates low while driving criminals out of business."
