NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has accused Premier Chris Minns of blaming federal tobacco taxes for the fact that the illegal tobacco trade in the state is “out of control”.
Minns has suggested that cutting tobacco taxes would lead to a reduction in black market tobacco activity, leaving NSW Police with more resources to combat organised crime and domestic violence.
“I think the evidence is in: the massive excise increase to tobacco has meant people haven’t stopped smoking, they’ve just transferred their sales into illegal tobacco”, Minns told reporters in Sydney.
