Police Commissioner Col Blanch not fussed as Opposition accuses Government of going slow on tobacco crackdown

The State’s top cop has distanced himself from claims by the Opposition that the slow pace of illegal tobacco reform in WA is letting organised crime flourish. Police Commissioner Col Blanch has previously asked WA to follow the lead of South Australia and Queensland and introduce same-day closure orders for shops caught selling illegal tobacco or vapes. In Parliament, the Opposition has questioned whether the delay is letting organised crime flourish. But Mr Blanch said it was not that simple. “Organised crime are agnostic to commodity ... they’ll sell meth, they’ll sell tobacco, they’ll sell fake Gucci handbags,” he said on Thursday. “So organised crime gets targeted as hard as possible from WA Police on a daily basis, I don’t need any more laws to target organised crime.” Advocates this week said new laws were needed “yesterday” after undercover spot checks by the Australian Council on Smoking and Health found the black market is flourishing, with 50 per cent of retailers surveyed caught selling cheaper, illegal products. Illicit tobacco consumption made up almost 40 per cent of total tobacco consumption in Australia in 2024, according to a report published by FTI consulting in June. Preventative Health Minister Sabine Winton insisted new tobacco legislation was a “key priority” when pressed on why laws to change WA’s public holidays has been debated, and passed the Legislative Assembly, first. “We have a number of priorities, and the priority around strengthening our tobacco laws is as important as those priorities as well,” she said. A smoker herself, Ms Winton said she had experienced how common illegal cigarettes and vapes were in other States too. “I’ve recently been in Melbourne and they’re still everywhere too. It is ... it is a really challenging problem nationally,” she said. Ms Winton said that preventing first-time smokers taking up the habit was her priority, after The West revealed this week that smoking rates in WA had increased for the first time in 30 years — up from 10 per cent in 2022-23 to 12 per cent. “I wish I’d never started smoking and my daughters have learned that lesson through watching me,” Ms Winton said. “I’m determined that we do everything, whether it’s through legislation, stopping the supply, through the work that the Department of Health does, but importantly doubling down on our efforts and talking to young people about the dangers and the long-term battle someone will have once you become addicted to nicotine.” In Parliament on Thursday, Health Minister Meredith Hammat said inspectors have conducted more than 19,000 inspections, and seized almost one million cigarettes and 222,000 vapes, since January 2024. “We are clear about the need for additional legislation, and when that bill is ready, it will be introduced,” she said.