Leading criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston has warned the Labor government about the detrimental effects of the tobacco excise on rising gang violence.
Speaking to News24 host Chris Kenny on Thursday, Dr Weston said the effects of Labor’s tobacco excise were being felt on the streets of Sydney and Melbourne, after two innocent people died in gang violence in the space of a week.
When asked whether the illegal tobacco trade has exacerbated the situation, Dr Weston said: “It certainly has.”
“This started back in 2020, when we saw these shootings beginning in Sydney, and that was really around the drug trade,” Dr Weston said.
“But more recently, certainly (it’s) the illegal tobacco trade.
“And we’ve seen announcements today on reducing the tobacco tax, because basically, with tobacco being so expensive, the trade is being pushed underground.”
The Queensland criminologist said gangs are warring to take control of the illicit tobacco business, which she said was driving gangland violence.
“More and more people are buying that illicit tobacco, which is fuelling this trade because ultimately these warring gangs, which is what is causing this, want control over that trade,” Dr Weston said.
“And so that’s where they really need to focus their attention; reducing those wars and those options for them to make money off this illicit activity.”
Dr Weston said the gangland shootings were being carried out by young criminals, but the crimes were being orchestrated by larger gangs.
She said gang members were offering young, inexperienced people very small sums of money to carry out the crimes, resulting in the deaths of innocent people who had been incorrectly targeted.
“These organised criminals are using people that they are seeking out online, often very young, inexperienced individuals who want to engage with these gangs,” Dr Weston said.
“And they’re paying them very small sums of money to undertake these criminal acts.
“And they are simply making very naive, very foolish mistakes, and innocent people are dying as a result.
“And for the gangs, it works because they’re not using any of their actual members. They’re not risking anyone.
“We’re seeing daylight shootings. We’ve seen people’s homes being broken into – fathers being shot in front of their children because they’ve just had a mistaken case of identity.”
On Wednesday, an innocent man in his 40s was gunned down at the doorway of a home on Bruce Street in Merrylands West, where children were present.
The man, identified by The Daily Telegraph as Joshua MacDonald, had just parked a work vehicle in the driveway when gunmen allegedly fired four or five shots from a stolen grey Audi sedan.
Just one day earlier, university student Marco Tapia, 23, was fatally shot while in his bedroom at his family home in Glen Alpine.
His killing was also a case of mistaken identity.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has unveiled the Coalition’s plan to crush the illegal cigarette trade by making legal tobacco dramatically cheaper.
Mr Taylor announced the plan on Thursday, saying it would attack the booming black market and strip organised crime of its customers and profits.
The plan includes an 80 per cent cut to the tobacco excise, legalising the sale of vapes and nicotine pouches, as well as a $200 million investment in law enforcement.
Mr Taylor said the two-pronged approach would drive up the price of illegal cigarettes and reduce the cost of legal cigarettes, returning about $8bn in lost tax revenue.