Stewart Perrie
The Australian government isn't mucking around with smoking.
The Anthony Albanese-led team has announced a suite of measures designed to protect the public health that will drain the bank accounts of smokers.
The new government's upcoming May budget will confirm a 15 per cent rise in the price of cigarettes over a three year period.
This is expected to raise a whopping $3.3 billion in taxes and will increase the average cost of a pack of ciggies to nearly $50.
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The Australian says it will see a packet of 20 jump to $49, however the Australian Financial Review says that will be the cost for a packet of 25.
Either way, by 2026, you'll be paying a hell of a lot more for your smoke.
But it's not just conventional cigarettes in the firing line.
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Health Minister Mark Butler revealed loose-leaf and roll-your-own tobacco products will be taxed in the same way as cigarettes from September 1 this year.
“We know that a higher priced cigarette is a more unattractive cigarette,” the MP explained to the National Press Club in Canberra.
“We want to see smoking rates plateau and then come down in that crucial under-25 cohort as well which is why there are very substantial investments in that, including for the first time in many years a funded tobacco information campaign that will be particularly focused on young people.”
The government's measures are part of the mission to reduce the national population of smokers below 10 per cent by 2025.
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It then wants to see that number fall to just 5 per cent by 2030.
The government's crackdown will also target vapes, which will be banned from being sold anywhere in the country except for pharmacies.
Doctors will be the only people allowed to issue a prescription for a nicotine e-cigarette and it will only be done as a means for quitting regular cigarettes.
Mark Butler said it's crucial to prevent vapes from being sold.
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“To make this work, we need the assistance of state and territory governments to close down the sale of vapes outside pharmacies, in convenience stores and the like,’’ he said.
“I know my colleagues at state and territory level are just as committed as I am to stamping out this public health menace with a strong national coordinated response.
“We will not stand by and allow vaping to create another generation of nicotine addicts.’’