❓ Tobacco and vapes—Illegal sales 27. Mr Adam Hort to the Minister for Health: I refer to the government's amendment bill to the Tobacco Products Control Act, which it should have been working on for ne
AnsweredQoN 27Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Tobacco and vapes—Illegal sales
27. Mr Adam Hort to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the
government's amendment bill to the Tobacco Products Control Act, which it
should have been working on for nearly a year.
(1) Why has the government failed to include
long-term closure orders?
(2) Why has the government failed to include a
provision for a landlord to evict a tenant if they are issued with a closure
order?
27. Mr Adam Hort to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the
government's amendment bill to the Tobacco Products Control Act, which it
should have been working on for nearly a year.
(1) Why has the government failed to include
long-term closure orders?
(2) Why has the government failed to include a
provision for a landlord to evict a tenant if they are issued with a closure
order?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question.
We introduced an important bill into Parliament today and it is one that we
know deals with very harmful and dangerous products for the health of Western
Australians. We introduced this bill to provide for a broader scope of
penalties, as well as increased penalties and closure orders. As members will
know, we have seen a dangerous escalation in the illicit tobacco trade and a
need to provide those additional penalties. That is what we are delivering.
That is what we have introduced into Parliament this week and we are looking
forward to the debate. As I said yesterday, we are looking forward to support
from the opposition to see this bill passed and take effect as soon as
possible.
As we have said before in this
place, our provisions provide for the increase in penalties. There will be four
tiers of penalties to capture behaviours that people might be involved in. It
also includes store closure orders. It is up to 72 hours for interim orders up
to 90 days—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, the minister is
responding to the question.
Ms Meredith Hammat: It is up to 90 days for short-term
orders and, as I said, it will significantly increase the fines.
We have been clear
that we want to take action to crack down on the illicit trade. That is why—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please do not
interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That is why we announced in
January a substantial increase in the compliance team that undertakes this work
and closer cooperation with the Western Australia Police Force. That is a key
part of how we will be able to make a difference in
compliance activity. People in the Department of Health will work closely with
police to prosecute people to the full extent of the law if they are involved
in this illicit trade. We are seeing results. Yesterday in question time the
Minister for Police outlined the largest single seizure of tobacco products in
WA history, but we want to do more, which is why we have introduced this bill.
We have been clear.
This is tranche 1 and there will be two tranches of legislation. The intention
is that we will introduce longer term closure orders. We have undertaken this
work so that we can get the tools that our compliance team needs. We are increasing
the resources and improving the cooperation between WA Health and WA Police. We
are introducing this bill because it will provide us with more penalties and
more powers to be able to crack down on the illicit trade. We will continue to
do the work on tranche 2, and that will come before this Parliament in due
course.
We introduced an important bill into Parliament today and it is one that we
know deals with very harmful and dangerous products for the health of Western
Australians. We introduced this bill to provide for a broader scope of
penalties, as well as increased penalties and closure orders. As members will
know, we have seen a dangerous escalation in the illicit tobacco trade and a
need to provide those additional penalties. That is what we are delivering.
That is what we have introduced into Parliament this week and we are looking
forward to the debate. As I said yesterday, we are looking forward to support
from the opposition to see this bill passed and take effect as soon as
possible.
As we have said before in this
place, our provisions provide for the increase in penalties. There will be four
tiers of penalties to capture behaviours that people might be involved in. It
also includes store closure orders. It is up to 72 hours for interim orders up
to 90 days—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, the minister is
responding to the question.
Ms Meredith Hammat: It is up to 90 days for short-term
orders and, as I said, it will significantly increase the fines.
We have been clear
that we want to take action to crack down on the illicit trade. That is why—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please do not
interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That is why we announced in
January a substantial increase in the compliance team that undertakes this work
and closer cooperation with the Western Australia Police Force. That is a key
part of how we will be able to make a difference in
compliance activity. People in the Department of Health will work closely with
police to prosecute people to the full extent of the law if they are involved
in this illicit trade. We are seeing results. Yesterday in question time the
Minister for Police outlined the largest single seizure of tobacco products in
WA history, but we want to do more, which is why we have introduced this bill.
We have been clear.
This is tranche 1 and there will be two tranches of legislation. The intention
is that we will introduce longer term closure orders. We have undertaken this
work so that we can get the tools that our compliance team needs. We are increasing
the resources and improving the cooperation between WA Health and WA Police. We
are introducing this bill because it will provide us with more penalties and
more powers to be able to crack down on the illicit trade. We will continue to
do the work on tranche 2, and that will come before this Parliament in due
course.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.