The Liberal Party Accepted Donations From A Pro-Vaping Lobby While It Was Banning Vapes

The Liberal Party received a total of $44,000 in donations from a major pro-vaping lobby group, amid ongoing disagreements about the legality of vaping in Australia.

Possession, supply or sale of nicotine vape products is illegal across Australia without a prescription, with a national ban coming into effect on October 1, 2021.

However, electoral records have since revealed that the Liberal Party received a total of $44,000 in personal donations from Legalise Vaping Australia director Brian Marlow last financial year — before the ban came into effect.

According to the records, donations of $20,000, $15,000, $7,000 and $2,000 were given to the party — declared as “personal gifts” from Marlow. Four Corners reports the donations were made as part of a series of “roundtable events” but disclosure documents made no mention of Legalise Vaping Australia — or vaping at all.

However, he later revealed to Four Corners that the donation was reportedly made on behalf of Legalise Vaping Australia as part of its “fighting fund.”

“After the former health minister [Greg Hunt] announced a ban on the importation of vaping products, with two weeks’ notice and zero consultation, vape shops across the country donated over $100,000 to our organisation in less than a week,” Marlow told Four Corners.

“Off the back of that, we held a series of vaping roundtable events to allow working-class vape shop employees and shop owners the chance to have long-form engagement with Members of Parliament.”

Marlow has been a vocal supporter of vaping, who called last year’s prescription model a “slap in the face” to vapers.

“Look, I think it’s a slap in the face to over 500,000 vapers across the country, these people who have quit smoking and finally done the right thing in getting away from cigarettes and yet somehow we’re making it harder for them to access these products that we know are less harmful,” Marlow told 9 News last year.

“I do think the prescription model will drive people back to smoking.

“We’ve surveyed over 7000 vapers across the country and almost half of them said once the prescription model comes into place they’ll probably go back to smoking.”

Marlow’s theory directly contradicts the findings of a report released by Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Australian National University Emily Banks earlier this year.

“When we’re talking about addiction in children, e-cigarettes may actually be more dangerous than smoking because they’re much easier to access, they’re much more discreet, you can hide them, and they also have these multiple flavours so they’re much more appealing to children, and they’re marketed to children,” Banks told the ABC.

“Use of e-cigarettes in that younger age group isn’t about giving up smoking. It’s about a completely new habit.”

Marlow is also friends with Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes — who personally describes herself as a “vaping enthusiast” and opposed the plan to ban the personal importation of nicotine without a prescription.

Hughes is one of 28 Coalition backbenchers who vocally opposed the ban, along with Senator Matt Canavan.

Australia’s vaping ban has repeatedly been criticised, largely for the fact that it has failed to actually stop people from vaping — instead, developing a black market for the products.

But regardless of your feelings on the ban itself, it feels particularly weird to have the government that sent the market underground accepting donations from lobby groups promoting the products.