MP calls for cut to tobacco tax

Radio National Breakfast — Separate stories podcast

South Australian Police have intercepted three trucks of illicit tobacco in just three weeks, while arson attacks on tobacco shops in Victoria continue as criminal networks fight for control of the illegal tobacco trade.

The boom in illegal tobacco is being driven in part because of the high price of LEGAL cigarettes and tobacco products, with Australia having the highest tobacco excise in the world.

The federal member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch says the time has come for the government to review tobacco excise.