Tobacco and vapes—Illegal sales
559. Hon Neil Thomsonto theparliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the situation of out-of-control illegal tobacco and vape sales in Western Australia. For legal tobacco and vapes since 1 January:
(1) How many inspectors responsible for illegal tobacco and vapes are there in the state?
(2) How many businesses have been fined?
(3) How many of those businesses have had more than one fine?
(4) What is the highest total amount of fines in dollars received by any business?
(5) Have any businesses or individuals been fined for warehousing illegal vapes or tobacco?
(a) If yes, what were the fines imposed in each case?
(6) Does the minister's department have an estimate of the number of illegal cigarettes and, separately, vapes sold in WA per annum?
(a) If no, why not?
(b) If yes, what is that estimate?
The President: I note, honourable member, that that question is extremely long and I remind you that I do have the capacity to rule questions out of order under the standing orders.
Hon Pierre Yang replied:
I can assure the honourable member that my answer is not as lengthy. I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following has been provided by the Minister for Health.
Hon Neil Thomson interjected.
The President: Order!
Hon Pierre Yang:
(1) For operational and security reasons this information is not released.
(2)–(5) The Department of Health is authorised to hand out fines for tobacco, but any fines for vapes are determined by the court subsequent to prosecution. Since 1 January 2025, the Department of Health has issued 33 infringement notices with a combined value of $30,900 to a total of 27 businesses. Multiple infringements have been issued to five businesses. The highest total amount of fines received by any business is $3,000.
(6) The Department of Health does not collect population-level data that would allow estimates of this kind and any estimate would be speculative in nature.
