The tobacco bill that's still generating heat

Four out of five cigarettes are illegal; the fix still hasn't passed

Both chambers sat late yesterday and both finished with their biggest item still open. The House spent most of the day on illicit tobacco and ran out of clock before a vote. The Senate reopened the tax fight and was still at it when the lights went down. Here's what happened, and what carries into today.

Yesterday, in the House

The Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026 didn't reach a vote. Debate was interrupted at 7.30pm with a Coalition amendment still live: it backs the bill but notes the government's own commissioner values the black market at $4.1 to $6.9 billion, and the Parliamentary Budget Office expects excise changes to cost revenue more than $20 billion to 2028-29. Michael McCormack (Nationals) read out a text from a Riverina (NSW) patrol officer about a Cootamundra shop turning over $4,000 to $11,000 a day.

The Treasurer introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief No. 2) Bill 2026, extending fuel relief for another month to keep petrol and diesel about 16c a litre cheaper. As expected, three private members' bills were introduced then parked: carbon farming, paying small business on time, and truth in political advertising.

Yesterday, in the Senate

The Greens tried to kill Labor's NDIS bill with Coalition support, then moved that the government withdraw the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. The withdrawal motion lost 10 to 32, Greens only. They say it would cut 241,000 people from the scheme by 2031; the government rejects that.

The tax package arrived from the House. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 were read a first time after the Opposition forced a division on the usually routine motion to skip formalities, with Claire Chandler (Liberal) calling the Senate inquiry a "stitch-up." The debate ran into the night without a vote. The fight is focusing on ending negative gearing on existing homes while keeping it for new builds.

Two more Greens moves failed. Steph Hodgins-May's urgency motion for a moratorium on ministerial meetings with gas lobbyists was negatived; she tabled the Greens' Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources report, "Energy crisis narratives in Australia's tax inquiry." And David Pocock's (independent) bid for a select committee on parliamentary staffing, prompted by reporting on staffing deals around the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025, was also voted down.

Susan McDonald (Nationals) tabled a report on Inland Rail after the minister dismissed a Senate order for it as "no longer relevant," using it to reopen the government's decision to cancel the line north of Parkes. Committees also extended deadlines: the illegal tobacco inquiry to 13 August, greenwashing to 2 November.

Today

All chambers continue today - the tobacco debate resumes with the Coalition amendment first, the fuel relief bill is set to move, and the tax bills stay front and centre in the Senate.

Two Senate Community Affairs committee reports are also due. The one to watch is the report on the NDIS bill, due today after its deadline moved in the chamber from 16 to 23 June, and it frames the next round of yesterday's fight. The same committee also reports on the Support at Home aged-care transition, the change Penny Allman-Payne (Greens) raised yesterday when she set a $78,000 home-care package against the roughly $300,000 a year it costs to care for someone with Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Know a colleague who'd find Krafted. useful? Forward this on, or point them to https://www.statekraft.au/krafted.

Until tomorrow!

— Mia