"it goes without saying that this government has a very different position to the National Party on this issue."

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Timeline:

25 June 2024: 

Key Statements:

"I want to start by acknowledging what Senator Sheldon has said. He claimed that big tobacco is killing our children one puff at a time by selling brightly coloured, highly flavoured disposable vapes within walking distance of our schools. While he is right that those sorts of vapes are being sold within walking distance of our schools and, unfortunately, many of our children are accessing those vapes, they are not the vapes manufactured and marketed by big tobacco. They are the vapes manufactured and marketed by organised crime—organised crime and the black market—and that will not be fixed by the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024."

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"The current model under which nicotine vapes are prescription only unfortunately isn't working. It was our model; we introduced it. But it's not working. But, unlike Labor, we're not doubling down. We are not going to keep kicking a dead horse. We have admitted that the current model does not work, and we have today announced a highly regulated model."

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"The legislation before us, with its half-baked, 11th-hour changes negotiated with the Greens—who support legalising all manner of illicit substances irrespective of health implications—won't overcome the many health, social and legal problems associated with the black market."

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"The government has got itself into this situation. They're trying to shut the stable door long after the horse has bolted, but this legislation will not get that horse back into the yards anytime soon."

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"We know the current prescription-only model has done nothing to limit the use of vaping, especially among young people. In fact, we're seeing numbers increase. Evidence to the Senate inquiry from a criminologist suggested that nine out of 10 vapers already reject the prescription-only model and buy their products on the black market. With now 1.5 million Australians vaping and accessing vapes illegally, the bans have created the second-largest illegal drug market in the country. Instead of achieving the health minister's supposed goal of stamping out recreational vaping, the risk is it will do the opposite."

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" In the Senate inquiry, my colleague Senator Cadell asked the Police Federation of Australia whether they could force the elimination of the illegal vaping black market through prohibition. They said they clearly could not, and this bill doesn't do enough to fix that. This bill will not curtail the estimated $100 billion black market that imports an estimated 100 million illegal vapes each year. This bill will not stop money being funnelled into the hands of organised crime syndicates. I fear this bill does nothing to prevent children accessing illegal vapes, and, because they are illegal, I fear what our children are inhaling through these illegal products.

This bill does not adequately fund enforcement measures. It also does not adequately address enforcement at the border or the point of sale. Rather, it puts the burden on pharmacists to be the point of sale enforcement and still leaves the borders woefully unprotected. Our policy to regulate vapes equivalent to cigarettes and limit point of sale includes significant funding for enforcement. It includes funding to stand up an illegal tobacco and vaping taskforce that would crack down on organised crime at the border and crack down on the import of illegal vapes at the border. So this legislation is at best half baked. We know we have problems with the vape industry. We have a plan to address that through regulation, through quality control, through education and, importantly, through enforcement. And that's what we will do if we have the opportunity from government."

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More here>>

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