1 day Ago By Savannah Meacham
An increase in violent attacks on tobacconists could put further pressure on overworked emergency departments, a peak medical body warns, as authorities play "whack-a-mole" on the lucrative trade. or signup to continue reading Queensland is the latest state to experience a rise in firebombings and ram raids on tobacconists as illegal sales ramp up across Australia. There have been more than 100 firebombings in Victoria in two years while seven men have been arrested across Sydney over the theft of illegal cigarettes and chop-chop, or loose tobacco, in the past year.
It is believed the attacks and thefts are a result of ongoing wars between criminal gangs over illegal tobacco profits. Peak health body the Australian Medical Association Queensland is concerned the rise of the illegal trade will make tobacco cheaper and easier to buy. "We are also concerned that a growing black market could see increased violence leading to avoidable emergency department presentations and pressure on our doctors and nurses," president Nick Yim told AAP.
Dr Yim has thrown his support behind the Queensland government's recent hike in fines for individuals and companies caught selling illegal tobacco. Individuals can be fined $32,260, up from $3226, and corporations can be slapped with $161,300, up from $16,130. It follows laws introduced in September enabling authorities to close offending businesses for up to six months - a penalty no other state has introduced.
The strict legislation included extra investment in Queensland Health officers to stamp out black market operators selling vapes but Dr Yim said the same funding was needed for illegal tobacco enforcement. "We urge (the government) to back the laws with adequate enforcement," he said. There are 5000 retailers in Queensland with hundreds more estimated to be selling illegal tobacco, Health Minister Tim Nicholls told ABC Radio on Monday.
There have been 36 raids across the state in April, with 820,000 cigarettes, 180kg of tobacco and 24,000 nicotine pouches seized. "As soon as these pop-up shops open up and are closed by our hard-working teams, they open up yet again in another location," Mr Nicholls said. "It's a bit of a whack-a-mole game at the moment, but we've got to attack it.
" Mr Nicholls hoped increasing the fines tenfold would "break the back" of the illegal tobacco trade but said a combined effort with federal authorities was required to stop product from entering the country. Shadow health spokesman Mark Bailey said the federal Labor government was pouring funds into cracking down on the illegal tobacco market. "This is a national issue that requires a national response, which is why the Albanese Labor government's $156.
7 million investment to tackle the tobacco black market is so critical," he told AAP. The federal government announced in March it would pump $157 million into federal health, crime and tax agencies across two years to strengthen enforcement and target crime gangs. Daily Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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