Kouk on durries revisited

Tuesday 3 February 2026

It is hard to believe it was ten years ago that the Kouk (who?) fought a tremendous battle against conservative commentators over plain packaging for durries.

He claimed a mighty victory.

Tobacco consumption has plummeted a staggering 17.5 per cent since the plain packaging laws were introduced in late 2012.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:

$24.99 / month

$249 / year

Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe

About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.