Last updated: April 14, 2010
Source: Nine MSN News
Smokers could pay up to $6.50 more for a packet of cigarettes under a new tobacco tax being considered by the federal government.
The proposed tax hike would see the price for a packet of 30 cigarettes rise from an average $13.50 to $20 within a three-year period, News Limited newspapers report.
The plan is being considered as a way to fund the federal government’s landmark $18 billion health reforms and could be included in next month’s budget.
The government believes the tax could provide almost two-thirds of the $3 billion in extra revenue it needs to help convince the states to support the reforms.
The government’s National Preventative Health Taskforce believes a $6.50 rise for the average pack of cigarettes could reduce the number of smokers by one million within 10 years.
Australia currently has one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the developed world, at 68 percent.
The proposed changes would bring the nation in line with the 75-80 percent benchmark in place in most other countries.
Polls have shown the public is overwhelmingly in favour of a rise in the tobacco tax so long as the revenue is spent on health.