Malinauskas Government to shut down illegal tobacco shops

The Malinauskas Labor Government is continuing its fight against vapes and illegal tobacco and the criminals who sell them with new powers being legislated to shut down illicit tobacco shops - as we reach $1 million worth of seized tobacco and vapes off South Australian streets.

The State Government will seek to legislate powers for the Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs to shut down a premises if she suspects that illicit tobacco products or vapes are being sold or supplied on site.

Her initial order can apply for 72 hours and can be extended to up to six months with the approval of a Magistrate.

Any business who violates such an order can be hit with a penalty of up to $1.1 million and an individual up to $700,000.

It’s the latest step in the Malinauskas Government’s nation-leading crackdown on the illicit vape and tobacco market with it estimated that organised crime groups control 75 per cent of the illicit tobacco market in Australia.

Consumer and Business Services has now seized more than $1 million of illicit tobacco and vapes since July 1 including more than 500,000 cigarettes and 12,492 vapes.

This follows the Malinauskas Government’s $16 million investment in a dedicated taskforce within Consumer and Business Services (CBS).

Since then, CBS have been conducting regular inspections and raids and have found that despite being raided, some illicit stores are up and running again almost immediately. These new powers will mean they can be shut down and prevented from trading for up to six months.

We have also introduced significantly higher penalties relating to the sale and use of vapes and tobacco products of up to $1.5 million to Parliament.

The Malinauskas Government will continue to stamp out this illicit trade and encourages people to report illegal tobacco or vape dealers via www.cbs.sa.gov.au/tobacco

Quotes

Attributable to Andrea Michaels

Today’s announcement is the next step in the Malinauskas Government’s fight against illegal tobacco and vapes.

We will be legislating new powers that allow us to close down any business we suspect of selling illicit tobacco and vapes.

The government’s new taskforce has been out doing regular raids and have now seized more than $1 million worth of illicit tobacco and vapes.

This is a fantastic start but what we are seeing is that some of these businesses that we raid are up and running again almost immediately and that’s unacceptable.

Smoking is a deadly habit and the rise of vaping among young people is really concerning and we know that it is increasingly organised crime that is involved in peddling these products with 75 per cent of the illegal tobacco trade in Australia controlled by organised crime groups.

We are not going to allow these criminals to profit off targeting unsuspecting people and destroying the health of our children and use it to fund their other illegal activities.