In Australia, tobacco companies fund parties to influence regulation

For the first time in over a decade, cigarette maker British American Tobacco Australia (BAT) has donated $55,000 (around €33,000) to an Australian political party. The donation, for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, came as the government sought to introduce reforms to vaping. This financial support raises questions about the willingness of manufacturers to influence public health policies, and the ability of decision-makers to protect themselves from the influence of the tobacco and nicotine industry.

Australian law requires that any donation exceeding 13,200 Australian dollars (around 8,000 euros) be declared. The donation from British American Tobacco to the Australian National Party (centre-right) was thus made public by Laneway Assets, the organisation in charge of collecting donations for the political party.[1].

Donations during regulatory issues on tobacco or vaping

At $55,000 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, this donation is the largest that the tobacco company has made to the party in twenty years. This operation corresponds to a crucial moment for the regulation of new nicotine products, since the government had announced that it wanted to ban the importation of electronic cigarettes for over-the-counter sale, ban disposable electronic devices, limit the available flavours and extend the plain packaging to all of these products. This entire regulatory system had then been justified by the Minister of Health by the practices of the tobacco industry, aimed at creating a " new generation of nicotine addicts " As recalled The Guardian, the last donation from British American Tobacco dates back to 2011, and again corresponded to an important regulatory issue for cigarette manufacturers, since the federal government wanted in particular to be the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.

In Australia, monetized access to policy makers

A spokesman for British American Tobacco justified the donation as an "annual membership" and its wish to " proactively engage in solutions to combat the rapidly growing unregulated nicotine market ". This statement demonstrates a certain consistency in the tobacco industry's influence practices, which seek to make the issue of illicit trade a point of contact with public decision-making spheres. Concretely, the amount of the donation ($55,000) corresponds to the party's "basic" package, allowing access to ministers and national political executives during events, lunches or dinners.

One-fifth of donations come from the tobacco industry

British American Tobacco is not the only manufacturer to have approached the party, as Philip Morris International has also donated $75,000 to the training, $20,000 more than the previous year, when the manufacturer subscribed to the "basic" package mentioned above. In total, as mentioned The Guardian, the manufacturer gave the National Party about 570,000 Australian dollars (344,000 euros). In the 2022-2023 financial year, the tobacco industry's donations to the party amount to more than 20% of its total declared donations.

A need for reform raised by a part of the political class in Australia

Such a large share of the party's revenues can cast doubt on the independence of the party's policy line. The potential influence of certain industries in policy making has been highlighted by David Pocock, an independent senator, who has called on politicians to stop accepting donations from the tobacco industry and to revoke their representatives' access to parliament. The president of the Australian Centre for Public Integrity, Anthony Whealy, makes a similar diagnosis of the need for reform, believing that the " The federal donation system is broken and in urgent need of reform "These practices correspond, according to him, to a dysfunction of the democratic system: " These are not […] donations made for democratic purposes, but funds to try to influence decisions. So this is another example of how our system is failing. ".

Keywords: Australia, National, Lobby

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[1] The Guardian, British American Tobacco makes first donation to Nationals in over a decade amid vaping crackdown, 06/05/2024, (accessed 13/03/2024)