ACT risks being 'national joke' if it can't shut illegal tobacco shops

The ACT is at risk of becoming a national joke if it is the last place in Australia that has illegal tobacconists operating openly in every shopping centre and mall, the federal minister leading the black market crackdown says.

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Assistant Customs Minister Julian Hill said the ACT needed to make a commitment to act on illegal tobacco retailers.

Assistant Customs Minister Julian Hill, who says Canberra would become a national joke if it's the last place in Australia where illegal tobacco is openly sold. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

"Appropriately framed human rights compliant law shouldn't favour those selling illegal tobacco. Human rights considerations should inform a properly safeguarded and effective regime but not leave authorities unable to act if premises are blatantly breaking the law," Mr Hill told ABC radio on Friday.

Health Minister Marisa Paterson on Wednesday would not commit to introducing rapid closure powers to target illegal tobacconists, but said the government was considering them and needed to consider the human rights implications.

"We will work through human rights considerations in the ACT and we will also understand the need for those laws and look at the evidence if those laws have been effective in other jurisdictions. So we're taking all this into consideration at the moment," Dr Paterson said.

Mr Hill said he had found it "a little perplexing and frankly peculiar" the territory government had pointed to human rights as a reason for being unable to commit to the legislation.

"I think we need a greater degree of maturity here. This is getting ridiculous. I met with these ministers eight months ago and they've gone around in circles, frankly," he said.

"We've offered policy support. If every other jurisdiction in the country can see their way to clear to close the shops selling an illegal product to their citizens, then I expect the ACT government can get there as well."

ACT Attorney-General Tara Cheyne said all illegal cigarettes in the ACT had made it through national borders and it was the Commonwealth's job to stop the products making it into the country.

Human rights would not stop the ACT closing shops selling illegal tobacco but the government did need to consider its regime carefully, she said on Friday.

"If we get it wrong, the people who benefit are the sellers, and the people who suffer are the people who are doing the right thing," Ms Cheyne told ABC radio.

Mr Hill said no country could stop illegal tobacco entirely at the border and the states and territories needed to work together to dial up the post-border effort to shut down the illegal tobacco trade.

"I say it again: we cannot have the national capital become a national joke being the last place in the country that allows illegal tobacconists to flourish in every strip shopping center," he said.

"I respect human rights. I've worked with them as a public servant. Many of your listeners will be public servants. I know there's a lot of policy capability in the ACT. We've offered the Commonwealth support but we cannot seriously sustain a situation where these crooks are trying to get our kids hooked on illegal vapes."

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