One Nation wants to cut the tobacco tax. Would that curb the illicit cigarette market?

Alexas Fotos/Pexels One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for a 75% cut to the tobacco tax and a freeze on any price indexation of the tax for three years. Hanson said this would make cigarettes cheaper and so undercut Australia’s growing illicit tobacco market. One Nation argues this would bring a packet of cigarettes currently selling for about A$46.50 down to roughly $21 or $22. That’s if the tax cut is passed on in full to consumers. That “if” matters. Tobacco companies, not…