Big tobacco is exploiting fears of the illicit market to unwind health gains, Australian experts warn | Health
Big tobacco is exploiting fears of illicit markets to relax long-standing health policies, leading health campaigners have warned during a parliamentary inquiry that received secret evidence from cigarette maker Philip Morris.
A coalition of health experts and researchers, along with 15 health organisations, including the Cancer Council and the Heart Foundation, accused the industry of trying to reshape the public debate to push for massive cuts to public consumption taxes.
The investigation into rising illegal sales sparked controversy this month when Guardian Australia revealed it had held a secret hearing for Philip Morris executives, ending more than 15 years of precedent under Australia’s accession to the World Health Organization agreement.
Executives have warned that illicit cigarettes will eliminate legal products from Australia by 2030 and called for tobacco duty to be cut to undermine criminal business models. Company representatives attended the first committee hearing secretly and their names were suppressed from the public record.
But health organisations, led by the Cancer Council, denied the claims and described it as a “dog whistle”.
“The industry is now using the rise of illicit tobacco to reshape public debate and pressure for lower taxes,” the group said. “But illegal tobacco is not primarily a tax issue, it is an enforcement and health issue.
“Even if we cut tobacco tax completely, illegal products will continue to become cheaper, legal tobacco will become more affordable, tobacco industry profits will soar and smoking rates will rise, destroying decades of progress.”
The WHO agreement on tobacco control requires public officials to protect health policy from interference by the tobacco industry and related interests.
Australia’s health department guidance suggests Australian public officials, including MPs, should only engage with tobacco manufacturers’ executives and lobbyists “when and to the extent absolutely necessary” to effectively regulate smoking.
The group has written an open letter ahead of the committee’s second hearing, which will include evidence from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian federal police, the health department and the tax office.
The letter states that Australia’s success in tobacco control is fragile and that it should reject attempts by the tobacco lobby to regain its influence over public health policy.
It calls on the government to strengthen transparency and protection against tobacco industry interference and maintain tobacco taxes, advertising restrictions and public education campaigns.
It was stated that the decision of the coalition-chaired committee to allow Philip Morris to testify in secret was “extremely concerning”.
“Giving this platform to a tobacco giant undermines Australia’s obligations under the WHO Framework, which is designed to protect policymaking from tobacco industry interference,” he said.
“These measures are there for a reason: Tobacco companies’ profits still depend on products that kill 66 Australians every day.”
Smoking kills 24,000 Australians every year and is the leading cause of preventable death in Australia. One in every five cancer deaths is attributed to tobacco use.
Research from the Public Health Association of Australia suggests that reducing the consumption rate would cause billions of dollars in losses to producers. A 50 percent cut would be worth an estimated $2.3 billion to tobacco companies.
The increase in illicit trade has caused the federal budget to take a $6 billion hit in less than six months.
In the Albanian government’s mid-year budget update in December, tobacco excise tax was expected to increase by approximately $5.5 billion in 2025-26. As of last week’s federal budget, that figure had fallen to $4.1 billion.
The Treasury expects this figure to drop to $2.1 billion by mid-2030.
