WA tobacco war: Opposition leader Basil Zempilas tells Premier 'do your job’ and strengthen laws immediately

The pressure on the Cook Government to finally crack down on the burgeoning tobacco war is intensifying after another shop went up in flames on Wednesday in a suspected arson attack. Not even 24 hours after Roger Cook vowed to “crush and destroy” the illicit trade and committed to new legislation, Ashtar tobacconist in Huntingdale was gutted by fire at 3.19am. Neighbouring businesses were damaged by the blaze and remained closed to customers. Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas seized on the latest inferno, launching a scathing attack on the Premier for failing to prioritise stronger laws, and leaving WA lagging behind other States. “Premier, please, on behalf of the people of Western Australia - mate, do your job,” Mr Zempilas said. “Bring that legislation in and stop incidents like this happening, it will cost somebody their life — somebody will be seriously injured, and Premier, if you do nothing, this will be on you.” It’s the second time the Ashtar tobacconist has gone up in flames in five months - with a number of offenders smashing their way into the shop and setting it alight in August. That incident was one of three attacks on tobacco stores in the same weekend. “The Premier came out yesterday saying they were going to crush and destroy organised crime - the legislation that exists can’t even crush a coke can,” shadow police minister Adam Hort said. “The Premier’s comments yesterday were completely atrocious. We have a crime epidemic when it comes to illegal tobacco sweeping across our State “We’re calling on the Premier to introduce legislation on the first day back - bring us back early if you need to. This isn’t complex legislation. Something meaningful can be done now.“ On Tuesday after returning from a two-week break, Mr Cook said changes to the Tobacco Control Act and the Criminal Code were among a suite of measures that were planned by the Government, but he gave no guarantee when the laws will be ready. “This is going to be complex legislation but it’s going to be incredibly strong legislation to make sure that we can get these criminals out of our community,” Mr Cook said. “It will be introduced this year and we’re in the advanced stages of that drafting. But we’ve got to get it right.” Patience is running in short supply across the community, with health advocacy groups blasting the Government for its lack of action. The outrage was prompted by revelations that in 2025, the Department of Health conducted its lowest number of enforcement checks on tobacconists and retailers in three years, at a time that arson attacks were rising sharply. “The Cook Government must urgently strengthen its regulatory framework, restore robust compliance checks, and give WA Health the powers it needs to act swiftly against illegal operators,” said Mark Brooke, Lung Foundation of Australia’s Chief Executive. “This is not a victimless issue. Illicit tobacco and vapes undermine public health policy, expose young people and the community to addictive products, and erode decades of progress in reducing smoking rates. “Every illegal sale is a failure of enforcement, and every failure puts lives at risk.” In Queensland and South Australia, health authorities have been given the power to shut down rogue retailers for up to 90 days, while in South Australia closures can be enforced for up to a month. The Lung Foundation wrote to the Cook Government in August urging it to take action on vaping and illicit smokes, including by strengthening penalties and resourcing for compliance and enforcement, but the plea has fallen on deaf ears. “If governments fail to act decisively, the long-term public health consequences are serious,” Mr Brooke said. “The growing availability of illicit tobacco and vaping products risks undoing decades of hard-won progress in tobacco control and normalising products that cause injury, disease and death. “That’s why we’re calling on the WA Government to treat this as an urgent public health priority and take immediate action to clamp down on illegal supply before the damage becomes even harder to reverse.” The sentiment was shared with the Australian Council on Smoking and Health’s Laura Hunter, who said the current enforcement efforts by the Cook Government were not good enough. “WA has been lagging far behind every other State for over 12 months now, and in that time, we’ve seen no action being taken by the WA Government. This needs to change in 2026,” Mrs Hunter said. “We don’t need a knee-jerk fix, we need a clear timeline for strong laws that will stop the illegal tobacco trade in its tracks. “We’ve heard promises from the WA Government of the toughest tobacco laws in the country — it’s time to deliver. That means real penalties, shutdown powers, hefty on-the-spot fines, more enforcement officers and the ability to run undercover operations.” In a statement, Mr Cook reaffirmed his promise to crack down on organised crime. “I have made my position clear - I will crush this industry and drive these people out of business. These tobacco thugs need to be stopped. That’s why it is so important that we get this complex legislation right.”