The ALIVE advocacy movement is the most active consumer based tobacco harm reduction movement in Australia with no ties to any tobacco or vaping companies.
The ALIVE Advocacy Movement is deeply saddened and outraged by the tragic and preventable death of Katie Tangey, who lost her life in an arson attack linked to Victoria’s escalating tobacco wars.
This horrific incident is the direct consequence of the Australian Government’s failed prohibitionist policies on vaping and tobacco, championed by Health Minister Mark Butler and the Labor Government.
ALIVE, public health experts and experienced criminologists have warned the Labor Government that its restrictive approach to nicotine and vaping would drive the market underground, strengthening the grip of organised crime and making Australia one of the most lucrative black-market hubs for illicit tobacco and unregulated vapes.
These warnings were ignored.
How the Government’s Policy Created This Tragedy
Labor’s Crackdown on Legal Vaping Created a Booming Black Market
By banning the legal sale of nicotine vapes in general retail and enforcing a prescription-only/chemist only model, the Labor Government pushed smokers and vapers into the hands of criminals.
This policy has failed and has instead enriched criminal syndicates, leading to greater violence as gangs fight for control of the lucrative illicit nicotine trade.
Cigarette Prices & Vape Bans Have Fueled the Illicit Trade
Australia has the highest cigarette prices in the world due to excessive taxation, driving many smokers to purchase from black-market suppliers.
Australia has the most prohibitive laws on vapes that drive most vapers to black market suppliers.
Organised crime syndicates have taken full advantage of this policy failure, smuggling in vast quantities of illicit tobacco and vapes, and using extreme violence—including firebombings, shootings, and now murder of an innocent person—to control the market.
Warnings Were Ignored – The Government’s Policy Failures Were Foreseen
The Australian Border Force and law enforcement agencies have repeatedly raised concerns that Labor’s strict nicotine bans and sky-high tobacco taxes are empowering criminal networks.
Health experts, consumer advocates, and industry professionals warned that banning retail vape sales would create a dangerous black market, making it easier for minors to access unregulated products while cutting off access for adult smokers looking for a safer alternative.
Despite mounting evidence, Mark Butler and the Labor Government refused to listen, doubling down on prohibitionist policies that have failed in every country where they’ve been attempted.
The Consequences of Labor’s War on Vaping and Tobacco
More Australians are dying—not from legal nicotine products, but from criminal violence fueled by the black market that Labor created.
Gangs now control the supply of both vapes and illicit tobacco, making billions while police struggle to contain the violence.
Every day that the Government maintains its prohibitionist stance, it is putting more lives at risk.
A Sensible Solution: Regulation, Not Prohibition
The ALIVE Advocacy Movement demands that the Labor Government immediately reverse its dangerous policies and adopt a sensible, evidence-based approach to nicotine regulation, including:
✅ Licensed vape retailers with strict age verification – Instead of banning vapes in general retail, allow them to be sold legally with tight regulations, similar to the UK and New Zealand models.
✅ Strict safety and ingredient regulations for vaping products – To eliminate dangerous, unregulated black-market products.
✅ Fair tobacco policies – Stop criminalising nicotine users by setting reasonable tax levels and enforcing regulated, legal retail options for smokers and vapers.
✅ Tougher penalties for illicit trade operators, not consumers – Instead of pushing Australians into the black market, target the criminal networks profiting from Labor’s failures.
A Government That Ignores Warnings Is Responsible for the Consequences
This tragedy was avoidable. Katie Tangey should still be alive today.
Instead, she has become a victim of Labor’s reckless, ideologically driven vaping and tobacco policies that have created a thriving, violent black market.
Minister Mark Butler and the Labor Government must be held accountable for their dangerous and ineffective policies, which have made Australia less safe and put innocent lives in the crossfire of organised crime.
We urge immediate action before more innocent Australians pay the price for a government that refuses to admit its mistakes.
ALIVE Advocacy MovementContact:
Pippa Starr (Director/Media Spokesperson)