Unbreakable
Bluelighter
Smokers face a 25 per cent tax rise from midnight after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revealed they may already be rushing to stockpile cigarettes.
The government will also force tobacco companies to use plain packaging from July 1, 2012 - a move that one expert says will lead to a million fewer smokers by 2020.
At a press conference in Sydney this morning, Mr Rudd said he had been alerted to "changes in consumer behaviour" after speculation about the 25 per cent rise in excise duty on cigarettes.
So the increase had been brought forward to midnight tonight, he said.
The rise will add about $2.16 to a pack of 30 cigarettes and generate an extra $5 billion over four years, which the government vows to invest in hospitals.
"Because of media speculation about the excise in recent days, there was real concern about changes to consumer behaviour and the importance of acting now," Mr Rudd said, saying the decision had been brought forward on advice from the Tax Office.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Tax Office was already monitoring cigarette outlets for any signs of stockpiling among consumers today.
"The Tax Office will be taking steps if there is any evidence of hoarding between the announcement being made and the time at which it commences," she said.
"We obviously want to make sure that these announcements have the effect as intended, which is that from midnight tonight your average packet of 30 cigarettes will cost $2 or so extra as a result of these changes.
"And we hope and we encourage the community to think again about whether now is the time to quit."
Mr Rudd denied the announcement was politically motivated or brought forward to draw attention away from the stalling of the ETS.
"There appears to be sort of an assumption in your question that this is somehow a popular announcement. It’s just not," he said.
"There’s a whole lot of smokers out there and I don’t think it’s going to be greeted with dancing in the streets."
A government statement says the changes will cut tobacco consumption by 6 per cent and the number of smokers by 2 or 3 per cent - about 87,000 Australians.
Internet advertising of cigarettes will also be restricted, and an extra $27.8 million will be spent on anti-smoking campaigns.
New legislation will prohibit logos, brand imagery, colours, and promotional text other than brand and product names in standard colour, position, font style and size, the government statement says.
"The new branding for cigarettes will be the most hardline regime in the world and cigarette companies will hate it," Mr Rudd said.
A leading youth worker said today that plainer cigarette boxes may make no difference to whether young people try smoking.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said stores had started to see a spike in sales.
"Our stores are starting to report that customers are buying more cigarettes that usual - not in huge quantities but more like three or four packets rather than one," she said.
"However, we are anticipating the demand for tobacco products will increase significantly as the day goes on and more people become aware of the impending price changes.
Coles said it had seen a spike in sales this afternoon and had instituted at three carton limit per customer to deal with the demand.
But the supermarket chain said it had a supply of cigarettes bought under the old excise and did not expect to be changing prices until the weekend.
‘
‘We won’t be changing our prices at midnight tonight,’’ a spokesman for Coles, Jim Cooper, said. ‘‘We’ve got existing stock in store.’’
A worker at an Alexandria newsagency said he had seen no rush to buy cigarettes.
source:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/smok...crease-to-beat-stockpilers-20100429-ttm4.html
Lucky Aussie's
The government will also force tobacco companies to use plain packaging from July 1, 2012 - a move that one expert says will lead to a million fewer smokers by 2020.
At a press conference in Sydney this morning, Mr Rudd said he had been alerted to "changes in consumer behaviour" after speculation about the 25 per cent rise in excise duty on cigarettes.
So the increase had been brought forward to midnight tonight, he said.
The rise will add about $2.16 to a pack of 30 cigarettes and generate an extra $5 billion over four years, which the government vows to invest in hospitals.
"Because of media speculation about the excise in recent days, there was real concern about changes to consumer behaviour and the importance of acting now," Mr Rudd said, saying the decision had been brought forward on advice from the Tax Office.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Tax Office was already monitoring cigarette outlets for any signs of stockpiling among consumers today.
"The Tax Office will be taking steps if there is any evidence of hoarding between the announcement being made and the time at which it commences," she said.
"We obviously want to make sure that these announcements have the effect as intended, which is that from midnight tonight your average packet of 30 cigarettes will cost $2 or so extra as a result of these changes.
"And we hope and we encourage the community to think again about whether now is the time to quit."
Mr Rudd denied the announcement was politically motivated or brought forward to draw attention away from the stalling of the ETS.
"There appears to be sort of an assumption in your question that this is somehow a popular announcement. It’s just not," he said.
"There’s a whole lot of smokers out there and I don’t think it’s going to be greeted with dancing in the streets."
A government statement says the changes will cut tobacco consumption by 6 per cent and the number of smokers by 2 or 3 per cent - about 87,000 Australians.
Internet advertising of cigarettes will also be restricted, and an extra $27.8 million will be spent on anti-smoking campaigns.
New legislation will prohibit logos, brand imagery, colours, and promotional text other than brand and product names in standard colour, position, font style and size, the government statement says.
"The new branding for cigarettes will be the most hardline regime in the world and cigarette companies will hate it," Mr Rudd said.
A leading youth worker said today that plainer cigarette boxes may make no difference to whether young people try smoking.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said stores had started to see a spike in sales.
"Our stores are starting to report that customers are buying more cigarettes that usual - not in huge quantities but more like three or four packets rather than one," she said.
"However, we are anticipating the demand for tobacco products will increase significantly as the day goes on and more people become aware of the impending price changes.
Coles said it had seen a spike in sales this afternoon and had instituted at three carton limit per customer to deal with the demand.
But the supermarket chain said it had a supply of cigarettes bought under the old excise and did not expect to be changing prices until the weekend.
‘
‘We won’t be changing our prices at midnight tonight,’’ a spokesman for Coles, Jim Cooper, said. ‘‘We’ve got existing stock in store.’’
A worker at an Alexandria newsagency said he had seen no rush to buy cigarettes.
source:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/smok...crease-to-beat-stockpilers-20100429-ttm4.html
Lucky Aussie's
