Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr welcomes the proposed legislation that would impose punishments on landlords who knowingly lease to illegal tobacco suppliers, but insists more should be done with the existing laws. Photo: Rattankun Thongbun/NSW Parliament.
Proposed legislation by the NSW Government would see landlords who knowingly lease to tenants who sell illegal tobacco face harsher punishments.
The new laws would result in landlords found guilty being fined up to $165,000, with the potential of a prison term of up to a year.
Under the proposed legislation, landlords would be found guilty if they fail to notify police about tenants who they know are selling illegal tobacco and don’t try to evict them.
PRD Real Estate’s Simon Azzopardi said while most landlords would happily work with police to prevent the sale of illegal tobacco in their stores, it was difficult for landlords to gauge whether business owners inquiring about spaces were actually intending to use them as fronts.
“The problem is that the people who own these illegal tobacco disruptions are inquiring about leases under the guise of grocery stores or something very similar,” he said.
“Often with these cases, they’re not inquiring as a tobacconist or a tobacco store. So the landlord needs to be vigilant.
“When there is suspicion of illegal behaviour, there needs to be proof to kick that tenant out. That means they need to be raided or similar by the police.
“We can’t just kick them out on a whim. With a retail lease, you need to give them about six months’ notice before they are removed if you don’t have proof.”
While Mr Azzopardi said he welcomed new laws that would reduce the number of illegal tobacco suppliers, he said there were concerns that unknowing landlords could be caught out.
“At the end of the day, if the landlord knows about it, they’re doing the wrong thing,” he said.
“However, I do think it’s unfair if a landlord gets fined when there is no proof or no legal way to remove their tenants. They are bound by the Retail Lease Act, and that can make it really difficult.”
Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr said that while he approved of the proposed legislation, he believed the NSW Government could do more with the laws currently in place.
“They’re [the NSW Government] now beginning to act,” he said.
“They’ve got the powers now to close and heavily fine illegal operators, but it needs to speed up across NSW.
“They’ve got the powers they need to involve health inspectors and police to close down these facilities. That’s got to be the priority.
“This proposed legislation is a step in the right direction, but it only applies to landlords knowingly letting a premise get away with illegal activity. There needs to be more action in actually closing these fronts down.
“Most landlords want to do the right thing, but there will be circumstances where people set up candy shops or so-called supermarkets. So it gets really difficult for landlords to know exactly what’s going on.”
Dr McGirr also hit out at the Federal Government over its current taxation on legal tobacco, stating that the high prices were pushing people to illegal alternatives, which ultimately funded organised crime and diverted money away from the government.
“The extreme level of excise at the federal level has meant they’re not getting the income,” he said.
“Income has dropped because people are going to the black market. Ironically, we have legitimate retailers that sell products with health warnings, that hide away products and don’t sell to kids, but all of that is gone because of how hard the Federal Government is pushing this.
“It’s pretty clear organised crime is behind this, but all these actions are doing is funding their operations.
“People say, ‘It’s just some smokes, what’s wrong if it comes from the black market?’ Well, no, because of that attitude we’re basically funding organised crime operations and that’s a big concern.”
