Aldred takes the whip to illegal tobacco

Federal Member for Monash Mary Aldred has been appointed to serve as Deputy Opposition Whip and to Co-Chair the Coalition's new Illegal Tobacco Taskforce alongside Senator Richard Colbeck.

Ms Aldred said she was delighted to take up the two roles, with the taskforce position building on her work over the last few months.

"Since the ram-raid of a local grocery store in my electorate of Monash, I've taken up the issue of illegal tobacco, and the impact it is having on communities across Australia.

"From Inverloch to Longwarry, local people have been raising with me their concern about the impact on children being sold vapes, retail staff being assaulted and the increase in people being driven to the black market to buy illegal cigarettes because of the excessively high tobacco excise tax," Ms Aldred said.

Ms Aldred said she has continued to advocate for action on the growing illicit tobacco trade, pointing out that the proceeds are funding organised crime and suspected terrorist activities, as well as the impact on community safety.

She said government have "their head in the sand" on the issue.

"I'm pleased to have been asked to take on this role to help develop the Coalition's policy response," Ms Aldred added.