Violent Tobacco Black Market Wipes $6b from Federal Budget

FINANCIAL REVIEW: The booming illicit tobacco market has wiped $6 billion from the federal budget bottom line in just five months and revenue from tobacco excise is now forecast to plummet to just over $2 billion a year by 2030.

The government raked in more than $16 billion from tobacco taxes in 2020, but the continued raising of the excise sparked a violent black market trade run by criminal gangs that has decimated the legitimate market and resulted in a massive fall in revenue.

The government is now spending hundreds of millions of dollars on dealing with the fallout, including $14 million in the budget to boost the ability of states to disrupt the illicit tobacco and e-cigarette markets.

In the mid-year budget update, the government expected to raise $5.5 billion in tobacco excise in 2025-26. Five months later, that figure is now $4.1 billion, or 24 per cent lower than expected, and will fall to $2.1 billion by June 2030.

Legal cigarettes cost about $50, of which $34 is tax and excise, while the readily available illicit product is priced at about $15. NSW Premier Chris Minns in 2025 called on Chalmers to consider lowering the excise, saying it was contributing to the illegal tobacco industry, while economist Chris Richardson has labelled the continued raising of the excise one of the worst policies this century.

“We’ve cratered the tax take, stalled the fall in smoking rates, and invited organised crime into the everyday lives of more than a million Australians,” Richardson wrote in The Australian Financial Review in April.

The budget expert said the failure by successive governments to do anything about the issue meant it would now be much harder to fix.

“Organised crime will fight tooth and nail,” he said. “They’ve been a huge success at that already: after all, they fought the law, and the law lost. Given we’re now handing them a tasty $5 billion a year in risk-free revenue, they’ll be cashed up and cranky if serious efforts are made to reverse course.” » | Ronald Mizen | Political correspondent | Wednesday, May 13, 2026

And so it will be here in the UK with Starmer's stupid, undemocratic, illiberal, and ridiculous generational smoking ban! Mark my words! That law will have to be REVERSED, REPEALED! Free up the people! You will enchain them at society's PERIL. — © Mark Alexander

Iron Will: Australia’s Richest Person Counts the Cost as Court Orders She Share Mining Millions with Rival Family

THE GUARDIAN: Gina Rinehart, who’s been called Australia’s ‘female Donald Trump’, has long fought claims from the family of her father’s business partner – as well as her own children

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has political connections in the Trump White House and Australia’s parliament. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Australia’s richest person is reeling after a landmark court decision found her company must pay royalties worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a rival mining dynasty.

Gina Rinehart, a multibillionaire with political connections in both the White House and the Australian parliament, has been described by members of the US conservative movement as “a female Donald Trump”. The 72-year-old, who inherited her father’s iron ore empire in Australia’s Pilbara region, has fought multiple claims against the family company Hancock Prospecting that were first launched in 2010.

On Wednesday, in the Western Australian supreme court, Justice Jennifer Smith found that Wright Prospecting was entitled to its claim for a half share of royalties coming from one of the region’s largest projects – Hope Downs.

Hope Downs is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting and exports about 45m tonnes of iron ore annually from Australia’s north-west each year.

But Hancock Prospecting had a partial victory, with the court rejecting Wright Prospecting’s claim for an equity stake in other mining assets.

The dispute harks back to a business partnership struck in the 1950s by mining prospectors Lang Hancock and Peter Wright. The pair had been school friends and together established a company called Hanwright which was responsible for pegging out vast tenements of iron ore-rich deposits in the region’s Hamersley Range. » | Sarah Martin | Saturday, April 18, 2026

Full Story Posdcast HERE.

'We Learned the Lesson...': EU Chief Makes Shocking Admission During Speech at Australian Parliament

Mar 24, 2026 | World News: In a striking moment at the Australian Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a candid admission, saying “we learned the lesson…” during a major speech that touched on global security, economic resilience, and shifting geopolitical realities. Her remarks have sparked widespread attention, as she reflected on past challenges and the need for stronger international cooperation in an increasingly unstable world.

Addressing lawmakers, the EU chief highlighted lessons drawn from recent global crises, emphasizing the importance of unity, preparedness, and strategic independence. The speech underscores Europe’s evolving stance on global partnerships and its approach to emerging threats. Watch the full address as Ursula von der Leyen delivers a powerful message on lessons learned, future strategy, and the changing world order.

Arson and Deadly Feuds: Australia’s Tobacco Wars | Four Corners Documentary

Mar 3, 2025 | Four Corners investigative journalist Dan Oakes uncovers the secrets of Australia’s black-market tobacco trade in Tobacco Wars.

With illicit cigarettes readily available in cash-only stores and distributed by unmarked vans across the country, this investigation reveals a vast network stretching from Melbourne’s suburban tobacconists to international smuggling routes.

Using concealed cameras and exclusive access to law enforcement, the Four Corners team follows the illicit pipeline, exposing the lucrative industry that is fuelling organised crime while robbing the government of billions in lost revenue.

Tobacco Wars investigates the high-stakes underworld where arson attacks, extortion, and deadly feuds are used to control the illegal cigarette market.

As the government grapples with policy responses and law enforcement agencies struggle to disrupt smuggling syndicates, Tobacco Wars raises urgent questions about the country’s ability to curb this thriving illicit trade.


This is what you get when stupid, fanatical, anti-smoking politicians raise the price of cigarettes so much that smokers refuse to buy licit, government-regulated cigarettes because of extortionate prices and have to turn to much cheaper, black market cigarettes to enjoy a smoke. This is not good governance; rather, it is stupid, irresponsible governance. It doesn’t bring smoking rates down and it causes violence and gang warfare in the form of turf wars to boot. — © Mark Alexander

Here is an excellent NYT article related to this documentary.

How $40-a-Pack Cigarettes Pushed Australians to the Black Market

THE NEW YORK TIMES: ax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.

Screenshot taken from this article. | Matthew Abbott for the New York Times
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.

Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.

A carton of cigarettes.

Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country.

“It’s the injustice of the situation,” said the retired teacher, Pat Felvus, 75, who recounted in an interview her early experiences of buying illegal cigarettes, which cost as little as 10 Australian dollars a pack. “Why would you pay four times the amount?”

Bootleg cigarettes are readily available on every main street in Australia — at convenience stores, candy shops and tobacconists. Competition has driven the price of under-the-counter smokes lower and lower, at a time that the cost for staples is rising. Violence has erupted between organized crime groups jostling for a slice of the lucrative market, with a spate of firebombings, extortion, shootings and homicides.

The scale of the black market and the criminality has raised questions about how far governments can raise so-called sin taxes to curb undesirable behaviors. Australia is now facing the quandary: Are the high cigarette prices doing more harm than good? » | Victoria Kim | Reporting from Geelong and Melbourne, Australia | Sunday, February 15, 2026

Gaggles of stupid politicians in parliaments around the world make stupid political decisions and thus make for stupid governance! Alas, you can’t fix stupid! — © Mark Alexander

The Real Reason Donald Trump Wants Greenland | 60 Minutes Australia

Jan 27, 2026 | Greenland has always been a fascinating place- at the top of the world, remote and mysterious - but it has now become the centre of a global race for rare earth minerals. Donald Trump wants Greenland so badly he’s offered to buy it or threatened to simply take it. But, in pole position to reap the rewards of this resource rich territory is Australian mining company Energy Transition Minerals, which claims it has uncovered the world’s largest rare earths deposit.

Australian Beef Industry ‘Extremely Disappointed’ after China Hits Imports with 55% Tariff

THE GUARDIAN: Levy on beef exceeding quotas to begin immediately as Beijing seeks to protect domestic industry

Australian beef producers said they were “extremely disappointed” after China announced a 55% tariff on imports that exceed quota levels in a move to protect a domestic cattle industry slowly emerging from oversupply.

China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday the total import quota for 2026 for Australia and other countries such as Brazil and the US covered under its new “safeguard measures” is 2.7m metric tons, roughly in line with the record 2.87m tons it imported overall in 2024.

The new annual quota levels are set below import levels for the first 11 months of 2025 for Australia as well as its top supplier, Brazil.

“The increase in the amount of imported beef has seriously damaged China’s domestic industry,” the ministry said in announcing the measure after an investigation launched last December.

The measure takes effect on 1 January for three years, with the total quota increasing annually. » | Martin Farrer and Dan Jervis-Bardy | Thursday, January 1, 2026

Italian Deputy Minister Questions Giorgia Meloni Being Labelled a Fascist

Oct 4, 2024 | Italy's Deputy Minister for Enterprises Valentino Valentini has critiqued mainstream media for labelling Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a far-right fascist, claiming Ms Meloni has “proved” the term “does not apply”.

“That was the corner where most of the mainstream media tried to place Meloni,” Mr Valentini told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio.

“Firstly, because she was an unknown figure and secondly because she comes from the right.

“Meloni has proved the term fascist does not apply.”

Dollars vs Decency: Is China Taking Over New Zealand? | 60 Minutes Australia

In calling out China for its increasing aggression, human rights violations and COVID cover-ups, Australia is paying a hefty price for storming the high moral ground. A furious Beijing is doing everything it can, using trade tariffs to punish us economically. But across the Tasman it’s a completely different story. New Zealand has been much more circumspect – critics say weak – when it comes to its relationship with China. However, the tactic is being rewarded. Trade with China is booming, and the Kiwi economy is flying high. Despite the apparent prosperity, questions are being asked about the ethics of prioritising dollars over decency. And it’s clearly a touchy subject as reporter Tom Steinfort discovered when he tried to discuss the issue with an uncharacteristically sensitive New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

60 Minutes Australia: Work Till You Drop (2017)

While he doesn’t look it or feel it, Charles Wooley is nudging 70. It’s led him to some serious introspection about his existence, and even more sombrely, contemplation of the “R” word. No, he still loves reporting for 60 MINUTES, but shouldn’t he have retired at 65? Shouldn’t his constant companion these days be a fishing rod instead of a typewriter? But as Wooley discovers, retirement is a word most Australians can no longer afford to dream about. The more likely reality, as former federal treasurer Peter Costello – who is now Wooley’s boss at Channel Nine – has been warning us about for more than two decades, is that we’ll have to work until we drop. Reporter: Charles Wooley Producer: Jo Townsend

Debt Bomb: Are We on the Brink of Another Global Financial Crisis?

This week marks a decade since the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression. What became known as the Global Financial Crisis saw banks collapse and even whole countries teeter on the brink of insolvency. While much of the world fell into prolonged recession, Australia's economy narrowly avoided that fate - but 10 years on, many individual Australians are still paying the price. Now, there are new warnings from financial insiders that the global economy could be even more vulnerable to a repeat meltdown.

Economic Justice and Future of Islamic Finance in Australia

Crescent Wealth »

Australia Hosts Commodity Conference as Prices Fall

More than 2,000 people are meeting in a remote town in Australia for one of the world's biggest mining conferences.

The summit is taking place against a backdrop of falling commodity prices, which has led to concerns over the economy.

Australia, however, has managed to weather the storm.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Healthcare in Australia

Australian Tax Office Nets $430m from the Rich

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Scores of the country's wealthiest people have been caught up in a huge government blitz that has recouped more than $430 million in unpaid taxes and fines last year.

High-profile figures recently caught up in the crackdown include racing identity Sean Buckley, art dealer John Ioannou and entrepreneurs Bob Jane and Geoffrey Edelsten, who together have received bills totalling more than $21 million.

But the Australian Taxation Office investigation has been criticised by some of its wealthy targets, who claim they are being singled out by hardline and activist tactics that are "grossly unfair". Others have blasted the ATO as the financial equivalent of the Gestapo.

The ATO's deputy commissioner, Michael Cranston, said that while most wealthy Australians did the "right thing", the agency's compliance program ensured the country's rich were in fact paying "their fair share".

"If the broader population sees that we make sure that the rich - who can really afford to pay taxes - pay, then it's fairer for them and they are more willing to pay their taxes too," he said. » | Chris Vedelago | Sunday, January 26, 2014

Australia: Where the Good Life Comes at a Price

BBC: Australia has managed to come out of the global financial crisis without a recession. But as a result of its booming economy, the cost of living is extremely high.

It was the limes that finally tipped me over the edge.

In the sleepy Australian seaside village where my parents live, not that far away from several citrus orchards, I was in a supermarket staring at a sign:

Limes: $2.25.

Two Australian dollars, twenty-five cents.

That's £1.50 (US$2.30). Not for a bag. Not for a pair. Each. One lime cost £1.50. Infuriated, I stormed out of the shop, limeless.

"The country has lost it," I fumed to my mum and dad over dinner that night. "How can anyone afford to eat in this country?"

"Darling," my father replied. "Look around. People here are rolling in money. We live in an unbelievably wealthy nation."

And he is right. In the 12 years since I last called Australia home, it has changed. It was always the lucky country, blessed with fertile land, abundant sunshine and plentiful natural resources.

Now, we are more than lucky. We are rich. Bloody rich. So rich that no-one blinks an eye at paying as much for a lime as some of our neighbours in Asia earn in a day. » | Madeleine Morris, BBC News, Australia | Sunday, February 24, 2013

Australia: Visa Change Helps Foreign Buyers Target Trophy Homes

Read the article here

Trillions of Dollars Worth of Oil Found in Australian Outback
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Up to 233 billion barrels of oil has been discovered in the Australian outback that could be worth trillions of dollars, in a find that could turn the region into a new Saudi Arabia.

The discovery in central Australia was reported by Linc Energy to the stock exchange and was based on two consultants reports, though it is not yet known how commercially viable it will be to access the oil.

The reports estimated the company's 16 million acres of land in the Arckaringa Basin in South Australia contain between 133 billion and 233 billion barrels of shale oil trapped in the region's rocks.

The find was likened to the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale oil projects in the US, which have resulted in massive outflows and have led to predictions that the US could overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer as soon as this year.

Peter Bond, Linc Energy's chief executive, said the find could transform the world's oil industry but noted that it would cost about £200 million to enable production in the area. Shale oil is more costly to extract than conventional crude oil and involves the controversial process of fracking, in which water and chemicals are used to break up the rocks.

"If you took the 233 billion, well, you're talking Saudi Arabia numbers," Mr Bond told ABC News. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Thursday, January 24, 2013

World's Richest Woman Calls for Australian Workers Wage Cut
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The world's richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, has sparked a political storm by saying that Australian workers should take a wage cut to be more competitive with African workers on $2 a day.


In a rare public appearance, Gina Rinehart said in a video posted on the website of the Sydney Mining Club that Australians should not be complacent about mining investment when African workers were willing to work for $2 a day. » | Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Australia's Qantas Posts Huge Loss
Australian carrier, Qantas, has posted its first annual loss since privatisation in 1995 and cancelled orders for 35 Boeing jets as high fuel costs and industrial action hammered its bottom line. The airline announced a net loss of $256m (244 million Australian dollar), a half-billion-dollar reverse from a net profit of AU$250m in the previous 12 months. Andrew Thomas reports from Sydney.