WELLINGTON, New Zealand - TelAve -- A new proposal in Australia's federal politics would legalise and regulate vapes and nicotine pouches for adults, ending prescription-only access. It's the argument CAPHRA has made for years, and the group welcomes it. But the same plan also cuts cigarette excise by 80 percent, conflating two different problems. Cheaper cigarettes won't fix the illicit vape and pouch market. Only legal and regulated access will.

Unveiled by the opposition this week, the plan would cut the $30 cigarette excise to roughly $6, legalise and regulate vapes and pouches, and add $200 million for enforcement. Backers cite Parliamentary Budget Office modelling showing the package would raise about $8 billion over four years. The government has rejected it outright.

Australian public health groups warn that cutting cigarette tax alone could push smoking rates back up. New Zealand's experience suggests otherwise: after tobacco excise increases were halted following vaping regulation in 2020, smoking rates kept falling. The Ministry of Health confirms daily adult smoking dropped from roughly 16.4 percent in 2011/12 to 6.8 percent by 2024/25, with the decline accelerating since legalisation in 2020.

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"Legalising and regulating vapes and pouches is the right call," said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA's Executive Coordinator. "It's exactly what we've been telling Australia for years. Adults need legal, regulated access to safer alternatives." CAPHRA is urging Canberra to adopt vape and pouch legalisation on its own merits, rather than letting an overdue policy die in a divisive tax fight.

"Australia is debating two policies at once because it delayed the easy one for years," Virgino said. "Countries across our region can regulate vapes and pouches properly today, without an emergency conversation about cigarette tax."

The debate will feed into the Asia Forum on Nicotine 2026 (AFN26) in Manila and online, 16-17 October, which includes sessions on real-world THR outcomes across the region. Media wishing to arrange interviews ahead of AFN26 can contact CAPHRA directly.

"Get the harm-reduction settings right early," Loucas said. "You don't need an 80 percent illicit market and a tax crisis to justify doing it."