Councils address illegal tobacco trade in region

Councils in the North West and New England regions are calling on the state government to address the illegal tobacco trade.

In a mayoral minute at the June meeting of Narrabri Shire Council, mayor Darrell Tiemens moved a number items relating to the unlawful sale of tobacco.

The call-to-action was initially spearheaded by Glen Innes Shire.

“There’s illegal tobacco being sold in our shire,” Cr Tiemens said.

“There’s vapes illegally being sold, and it’s happening all through this whole area.

“We want to try and nip it in the bud.”

Cr Tiemens said there are some moves by the New South Wales government to try and address illegal tobacco, however, council doesn’t believe it still goes far enough.

“We believe there’s a lot more that needs to be done to address illegal tobacco sales,” he said.

“The problem is there’s three layers of government and it’s all caught up in this handball game. Everyone’s handballing it.

“So we’re just calling for clarity over it. It’s affecting the health of our young people, it’s also affecting our crime statistics and a number of other things.”

As part of the mayoral minute, council will write to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) to formally express its serious concerns regarding the unlawful sale of tobacco products from tobacconist premises within the Narrabri local
government area and across the ‘Northern Western region’, and respectfully requests that DPHI urgently considers amending the NSW Standard Instrument – Principal Local Environmental Plan.

Council has also called for a standalone land use definition of ‘tobacconist’, to exclude tobacconists from the existing definitions of ‘shop’, ‘retail premises’ and ‘specialised retail premises’.

Transitional provisions would also be created for existing premises following standard conditions with all relevant legislation.

In council’s business paper, it states the proliferation of unregulated tobacconist outlets—particularly those implicated in the sale of illicit tobacco and unlawful nicotine vapes—has intensified across regional New South Wales, with NSW Health seizing over hundreds of thousands of illegal vapes in the past 12 months alone and reporting a significant rise in non-compliance across regional LGAs.

“These businesses often exploit planning loopholes by operating under generic classifications such as ‘shop’ or ‘specialised retail premises’, limiting councils’ ability to scrutinise or restrict them based on public health risks or law enforcement concerns. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Border Force, illegal tobacco and vape imports are increasingly linked to organised crime networks, including in rural towns,” the business paper states.