As there’s no proof that plain packaging will actually work we expect the Federal Government to impose [on] the industry a large excise increase alongside plain packs to try and get more people to quit so it can say ‘look green packs worked’.
Well, guess what?
Tax rise will cost smokers a packet
The price of cigarettes would rise to $20 a pack under a Gillard Government proposal that would reap an extra $1.25 billion a year in taxes.The West Australian understands the Government is considering a 25 per cent rise in tobacco excise that would raise $5 billion over four years.
Gosh. I wonder when this massive tax rise will come in?
The excise increase may be timed to coincide with the introduction of mandatory plain-packaging for tobacco products on December 1.
To cynical eyes, this could be interpreted as the start of a desperate arse-covering campaign on behalf of a government that knows it has embarked on a plan that is doomed to fail. Some will say it is a shameless attempt to force down the smoking rate in order to justify plain packaging to the rest of the world.
I couldn't possibly comment.
