Live: Coalition unveils plan to cut tobacco tax by 80%

Australia's opposition wants to cut the tobacco tax by 80%, arguing that a lower excise would help disrupt the country's growing black market. Angus Taylor's plan would reduce the tax on a standard packet of 20 cigarettes from about $30 to roughly $6.

More than half of the tobacco consumed in Australia last year was bought illegally, according to the live updates. Public health authorities have long used the excise to make cigarettes more expensive and reduce smoking. They have repeatedly warned that cutting the tax could reverse that effect.

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Racism is everywhere in this country.

The Coalition also says it would legalize, regulate and tax vapes and nicotine pouches for adults. Australians over 18 can currently buy legal vapes through pharmacies, while nicotine pouches remain banned.

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It will be protected, it will be read, and it will be used to come up with strategies to work against racism.

The live coverage also reported a $2 million federal funding boost for Call It Out, an online register for racism against First Nations people. The register has received about 2,100 reports since it began in 2022. Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said a parliamentary inquiry had heard that “racism is everywhere in this country,” and described concerns raised by health workers, doctors and people in workplaces.

The Jumbunna Institute runs the register with the National Justice Project. Professor Lindon Coombes said the funding would support staffing, website development and public awareness. National Justice Project chief George Newhouse said that without data, racism becomes an “invisible scourge” that governments cannot see.

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If you don't have data, it's an invisible scourge on our society.