{"id":19764,"date":"2025-07-27T17:20:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T16:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=19764"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:53:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:53:40","slug":"good-news-from-australia-regarding-both-vaping-and-border-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/07\/good-news-from-australia-regarding-both-vaping-and-border-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Good news from Australia regarding both Vaping and Border Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

OPENING COMMENT by NDPA:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This file comes in three parts:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Post from Minister Mark Butler<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

B. Response to Minister Butler by Herschel Baker<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

C. Press Interview by Minister Butler<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Post from Minister Mark Butler<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sent: 16 July 2025 10:16<\/p>\n

Subject: Good news from Australia Regarding both Vaping and Border Control success stopping illegal drugs importance.<\/p>\n

Please find attached Vaping Update from MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH\u00a0AND\u00a0AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS; Chris Picton, the Minister for\u00a0Health in South Australia, and Andrea Michaels who has responsibility for\u00a0enforcement in South Australia. Also joined by Assistant Commissioner.\u00a0Tony Smith from the ABF and Professor Becky Freeman from the University of\u00a0Sydney.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First of all, we put in import control to ban the import of<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    disposable vapes. And the work that Border Force and the TGA have done in<\/p>\n

    particular has been exemplary. Today, we can say that more than 10 million<\/p>\n

    vapes have been seized by those two Commonwealth agencies, and I want to<\/p>\n

    thank the officials at Border Force and TGA for their hard work. We have<\/p>\n

    resourced them to do that job, and they have provided a great return to<\/p>\n

    the\u00a0community on that investment and I thank them for it.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. More broadly though, and most importantly perhaps, the research<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      that\u00a0Professor Freeman and some others have done is showing that this is making<\/p>\n

      a\u00a0difference for young Australians. As I said, vaping rates were exploding<\/p>\n

      year on year when we were coming to Government. We can now say that the<\/p>\n

      peak\u00a0of vaping is behind us, and most research is showing that fewer young<\/p>\n

      people\u00a0are vaping and fewer young people are smoking as well. Professor Freeman<\/p>\n

      will talk about the latest wave of the research she leads out of the<\/p>\n

      University of Sydney, research that’s supported by the Commonwealth<\/p>\n

      Government as well as the New South Wales Government and the Cancer<\/p>\n

      Council.<\/p>\n

      3.Big Tobacco on the one hand and serious organised crime that is<\/p>\n

      determined\u00a0to continue to make money from these very dangerous products, vaping but<\/p>\n

      also illicit tobacco as well. We know it’s going to be a tough fight. We<\/p>\n

      know there’s a lot more to do, and we have to do that in close concert<\/p>\n

      between the Commonwealth and the state governments and territory<\/p>\n

      governments. But I’m really pleased to say that it looks like we have<\/p>\n

      turned\u00a0the corner and at least stopped the explosion in vaping among young<\/p>\n

      Australians that was emerging as one of the most significant public health<\/p>\n

      challenges for our community.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. BECKY FREEMAN, PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: Thanks so much for<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        having me here today. Young people were sold a lie. They were told that<\/p>\n

        vapes were harmless, they were fun, they were part of a young person’s<\/p>\n

        lifestyle, and they didn’t need to worry about any impacts on their<\/p>\n

        health.<\/p>\n

        That was a lie.\u00a0 We know that young people now, when they look at vaping,<\/p>\n

        their attitudes have changed. Just a few short years ago when we started<\/p>\n

        the\u00a0Gen Vapes study, young people thought, you know, everyone vapes. “It’s<\/p>\n

        something just young people do. It’s for us, it’s not like your<\/p>\n

        grandfather’s stinky cigarette.” When we talk to young people now, those<\/p>\n

        attitudes have shifted. They’re almost ashamed of the fact that they’re<\/p>\n

        addicted. They can’t believe that something that they were just using at<\/p>\n

        parties for fun on the weekends, that they were told if they took to music<\/p>\n

        festivals or used with their friends at parties would be a great way to<\/p>\n

        enhance their good time.\u00a0 Now their wellbeing is being impacted. They’re<\/p>\n

        waking up with a vape under their pillow. They can’t believe they can’t go<\/p>\n

        all day at their lectures or at school without having a vape. I think it’s<\/p>\n

        really important to remember those public health impacts.<\/p>\n

        BUTLER: The Gen Vape research? The really pleasing thing about the latest<\/p>\n

        wave of research from Gen Vape is it shows fewer young people are vaping<\/p>\n

        and\u00a0fewer young people are smoking. When we introduced this package of<\/p>\n

        measures\u00a0in concert with Ministers like Chris Picton, there was a concern that if<\/p>\n

        we\u00a0stopped young people vaping that they might turn to smoking cigarettes.<\/p>\n

        And\u00a0I think the really pleasing thing we’re seeing from a number of different<\/p>\n

        pieces of research is that twin achievement of fewer young people vaping<\/p>\n

        and\u00a0fewer young people smoking.<\/p>\n

        Now, again, I say and I stress this fight is far from over. We still have<\/p>\n

        a\u00a0long way to go. The explosion in illicit tobacco around the country,<\/p>\n

        cheap,\u00a0illegal cigarettes, is probably now, I think, the biggest threat we have<\/p>\n

        to\u00a0our most important public health objective, which is to stop people<\/p>\n

        smoking.<\/p>\n

        It’s still the biggest preventable killer of Australians, 60 or 70<\/p>\n

        Australians will die today and tomorrow and the day after because of<\/p>\n

        cigarettes. We’ve got a lot more to do to get to those very, very low<\/p>\n

        rates\u00a0of smoking that are set out as targets in the National Tobacco Strategy<\/p>\n

        across all age cohorts, including young Australians. But the fact we<\/p>\n

        haven’t\u00a0seen smoking rates increase markedly as we’ve started to clamp down on<\/p>\n

        vaping rates among young people, I think is one of the really heartening<\/p>\n

        things that comes out of Gen Vape. I’m not sure whether Professor Freeman<\/p>\n

        wants to add to that.<\/p>\n

        FREEMAN: I fully agree. The only thing I would add is let’s remember that<\/p>\n

        vaping is actually a risk factor for future smoking as well. We know from<\/p>\n

        the Gen Vape study that young people who vape are at five times the risk<\/p>\n

        of\u00a0going on to smoke. So if you can prevent vaping, you’re also going to<\/p>\n

        prevent future smoking. And this is why you can’t really consider them as<\/p>\n

        separate behaviours, really, as well. Let’s remember, it’s the same\u00a0industry<\/p>\n

        often behind these products as well. There’s a great quote from the study<\/p>\n

        from a young person. She said: “you know, when I was a young teen, I<\/p>\n

        absolutely hated smoking. I could not believe anyone would smoke. I’d had<\/p>\n

        it\u00a0drilled into me from a very young age, those gross packets. And then I<\/p>\n

        tried\u00a0vaping, and it sort of loosened me up. And I thought, oh, well, if I’m<\/p>\n

        going\u00a0to vape, maybe I could smoke too.” So I think that prevention of vaping<\/p>\n

        and\u00a0prevention of smoking together is super important.<\/p>\n

        Kind Regards\u00a0 – Minister Mark Butler<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        B. Response to Minister Butler by Herschel Baker<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

        Herschel Baker<\/p>\n

        International Liaison Director<\/p>\n

        Queensland Director<\/p>\n

        Drug Free Australia<\/p>\n

        M: 0412988835Prevent.<\/p>\n

        Don’t Promote Drug<\/p>\n

        mailto:drugfreeaust@drugfree.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n

        mailto:drugfree@org.au<\/a><\/p>\n

        Web https:\/\/drugfree.org.au\/<\/a><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        C. Press Interview by Minister Butler<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

        To access the full document:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Click on the \u2018Source\u2019 link below.<\/strong><\/li>\n
        2. An image\u00a0 \u2013 the front page of the full document will appear.<\/strong><\/li>\n
        3. Click on the image to open the full document.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Source:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Good news from Australia Regarding both Vaping and Border Control<\/a><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          OPENING COMMENT by NDPA: This file comes in three parts: A. Post from Minister Mark Butler B. Response to Minister Butler by Herschel Baker C. Press Interview by Minister Butler <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A. Post from Minister Mark Butler Sent: 16 July 2025 10:16 Subject: Good news from Australia Regarding both Vaping and Border Control success stopping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,104,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-political-sector","category-vaping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20109,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19764\/revisions\/20109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}