Treasurer Jim Chalmers vows vaping crackdown for young users

The rise of vaping in Australia is ‘completely unacceptable’ the Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, as the substitute for cigarettes threatens to burn a hole in the budget’s bottom line.

E-cigarettes, otherwise known as vaping, have displaced heavily taxed tobacco products as the nicotine habit of choice for young people.

The decline of tobacco use, where the retail price of cigarettes is about 70 per cent excise, threatens to lower this financial year’s tax take by $5billion.

Dr Chalmers addressed this issue at a Brisbane press conference on Tuesday and noted Australia had ‘seen an explosion in vaping’.

‘The status quo when it comes to vaping and smoking more broadly is completely unacceptable,’ Dr Chalmers said.

‘This is a problem for the Budget but much, much more importantly than that, this is a problem for our society.’

An estimated 400,000 Australians regularly vape and it has become hugely popular among young people, with an estimated one in 10 people between 16 and 24 vaping. 

More than one third of e-cigarette users in Australia are under 25, with 11 per cent of the population aged 14 and over reporting e-cigarette use in 2019.

By contrast the number of Australians who use traditional tobacco products has been steadily declining over the past decade from 16 per cent to 11 per cent on latest figures.

E-cigarettes with nicotine were intended as a substitute to traditional tobacco products and are legally only available with a doctor’s prescription.

However, they have become widely available online or from retailers selling them illegally.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured left with partner Laura in Canberra last September) noted that vapes do not bring in the same tax as cigarettes and other tobacco products

Dr Chalmers said this concerned him more as a parent than a treasurer.

‘I think anyone who’s driven past the bus stops before and after school and seen the way that vaping is spreading amongst our young people [would agree] – these are incredibly concerning developments,’ he said.

Dr Chalmers said federal Health Minister Mark Butler was working with state counterparts to come up with measures to curb the rise of vaping.

Despite the loss of tax the Albanese government announced new measures to cut traditional tobacco use at the start of December.

Mr Butler announced a ban on menthol and other flavoured cigarettes, flagged that each individual cigarette will have a health warning printed on it and packs will come in ‘uglier’ colours as part of the government’s efforts to curb the habit. 

There are concerns that potentially toxic e-cigarettes are being marketed at young people

The Health Minister also expressed his concerns about the growing numbers of e-cigarette users and that children were the target market.

‘Vapes that are marketed out there with pink unicorns, bubble gum flavours, fruit flavours — they are not being marketed to adults,’ he said.

Vaping suppliers have been avoiding the law restricting nicotine content by simply not listing their ingredients, which may also include other harmful chemicals.

 Research by the Australian National University published in March showed that vaping poses a major health risk, especially to youngsters.

It has been estimated that there are 400,000 regular vapers in Australia with many of them being young people

‘People using vapes are inhaling a complex cocktail of chemicals,’ the research paper said.

More than 240 chemicals were found in toxicological analyses of non-nicotine e-cigarettes. That compares to around 7,000 chemicals in traditional cigarettes.

At least 38 of those chemicals were listed poisons and another 27 were associated with adverse health outcomes.

The Australian Medical Association urged the government to clamp down, given the increasing use of vapes by children.

‘Australian governments need to act now,’ AMA president Professor Steve Robson said.

‘This will help us to start to tackle the issue of vapes being marketed and sold to children.’