When Victoria police started investigating the incidents, they came across a somewhat alarming gap in their intelligence: nobody knew, exactly, how many shops there were selling tobacco in the state.
Kelly said that while there were legitimate tobacco shop owners, some businesses were operated by organised crime syndicates, while others were in their pockets.The firebombings are not all considered attacks against legitimate businesses who refuse to sell illegal products and pass the profits back to these syndicates. There are broader conflicts between the syndicates themselves.
“There have a number of significant changes since the report was provided, including the commonwealth government’s ban on the importation of vaping products without a prescription. Llew O’Brien, the federal MP for Wide Bay in Queensland’s south-east, moved a motion in parliament this week that called for tougher penalties for supplying illegal tobacco and vapes, and an increase in resources to an illicit tobacco taskforce.
While O’Brien was calling for more action by the Albanese government, there was also an acknowledgment from both major parties that problems with illegal tobacco had spiralled out of control.