Cigarette tax hike exposes Labor’s hypocrisy

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By Leith van Onselen

I hate cigarettes with a passion. My mum smoked for 40 years and one of my worst childhood memories is the smell of cigarettes around the house. Thankfully, she quit three years ago, but has been left with emphysema, which has become a big drain on her quality of life.

With these biases in mind, I should be the first to support the Labor Party’s plan to fund Budget repair by extending the excise on cigarettes – which has already been rising by 12.5% per year since 2013 – beyond its 2017 end date. Under Labor’s proposal, the cost of a packet of 25 cigarettes would rise to more than $40 by 2020, or nearly $2 per cigarette.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.