From: Australian House of Representatives
Mr CRAIG KELLY
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“I had the fortune to go on a delegation overseas last year. I went through Dubai airport. I had a look at the cigarettes to see what the prices were. I could have bought a packet—or several packets; it was three cartons packed together, and it was on special—of Benson & Hedges for A$1.67 in Dubai airport. Yet the bipartisan policies of this parliament are going to increase the price of a packet of Benson & Hedges up to $40 with the excise increases. Already—some may be able to inform me a little bit better—I understand a packet of Benson & Hedges at the moment is around $25 in Australia, the highest price of cigarettes in the world. That, of course, can only attract black market activity, with such massive discrepancies in the manufacturing costs of a packet of cigarettes. You can buy them lawfully in an overseas country, which is a big difference from illegal drug smuggling, where illegal drugs are produced unlawfully in the country of origin, sold on the black market unlawfully and shipped unlawfully to Australia. The whole process is illegal, but, when it comes to cigarette smuggling and importation, the manufacture and sale of those cigarettes in the country of origin is a lawful activity. It only becomes unlawful when those cigarettes are shipped to Australia and a fraudulent customs declaration is made.
