Smoked Tobacco Bill drives crime with tobacco worth more than silver
The passing of the Smoked Tobacco Bill today is a missed opportunity that increases the danger faced by retailers, dairy owners warn.
“We are bracing for the crime emergency to worsen. Tobacco will hit $1,678 a kg from 1 January, versus silver, 'at only' $1,174 a kg. Government has made tobacco 30% more valuable than silver and that doesn’t include 15% of GST,” says Sunny Kaushal, Chair of the Dairy and Business Owners’ Group.
“This government not only rips into us for collecting over $2 billion each year in tax we bleed for, but is as hooked on that tobacco excise as smokers are on nicotine.
“Why isn’t the government putting billions of tobacco tax revenue where its media releases are? That’s by slashing excise taxes on what it claims as solutions. Things dairies, service stations and liquor outlets could sell that give smokers ready access to better products while reducing risk to us.
“For a change, reward smokers for making better choices than taxing them into the dust. This will take crime pressure off retail because taxes have only made smokers poorer and desperate. The excise increase this year is a whopping 7.2% and 63% of daily smokers are in the poorest 2 of 5 'quintiles.'
“Government could easily zero rate the tobacco excise on low nicotine tobacco for the next 27-months to get that into the shops before it’s compulsory when the full excise would apply. They should scrap excise on smokeless tobacco vaping because it’s a lot safer than smoking.
“We sell some of these products right now, but no one will touch low nicotine tobacco if it costs the same, if not more, than the real thing.
“Why can government do this with a clean car discount for emissions, but not when lives are at stake? A cigarette is like an old, imported diesel car whereas low nicotine tobacco is a hybrid. It’s not great but may help get people off something worse while smokeless tobacco vaping is the 'EV' of tobacco.
“We asked Dr Verrall to meet months ago, but she never replied. We asked the government to give us a free hand to ‘promote, notify and encourage’ smokers into the three regulated vape flavours we sell when smokers ask us for cigarettes. That was ignored and with it, the best shot for Smokefree 2025.
“We asked for a minimum two-year delay to a reduction in sellers. The government has pushed back the 90% reduction by 18-months but it still means there will be 600 winners and 5,400 losers.
“This means the current legal stoush over vaping will be nothing compared to culling 9 out of every 10 retailers. Each of these 600 licenses are the equivalent of winning Dr Verrall’s ‘cigarette powerball.’
“There’s also the mother of all loopholes in the smokefree generation policy. The smokefree will legally be able to buy 1,000 tobacco seeds for $8 off TradeMe in order to grow and ‘manufacture’ five kilograms for ‘personal consumption’ each year. We told the Select Committee this in Auckland.
“At over 300 packs worth a year, 5 kg of personal tobacco is worth around $8,000. This law will see tinnie houses become well-supplied ciggie houses while the law gives criminals a timeline to rob us blind.
“We fear we’ll lose another colleague. In almost the two months since meeting the Minister of Police on the crime emergency, where precious-metal priced tobacco is a huge driver, we still await a written reply. That speaks volumes,” Mr Kaushal said.