Stubborn government remains ‘incurious’ on exploring benefits of cutting tobacco excise

4 hours ago The News Room

Sky News host Caleb Bond questions why the government remains “incurious” about exploring the benefits of cutting the tobacco excise.

“Now the Oxford Economics modelling… found that if the tax went back to 2019 levels and there was stronger enforcement by 2029, you’d have a 46.8 per cent fall in illicit tobacco consumption compared to 2026,” Mr Bond said.

“Cutting the tax won’t encourage more people to smoke because the cheap illicit product is already readily available and no level of enforcement will ever totally stamp it out. If you want to smoke, you can already do it on the cheap.

“Paired with harsh enforcement, it would help shrink the black market, redirect people back to a legal and regulated market, and probably make the government more money in the process.

“How could those outcomes in any way be a bad thing? And why is the federal government so incurious about exploring them?”