A national vaping lobby group donated a total of $ 44,000 to the Liberal Party, but the money was declared as personal gifts from its director in the election statements.
Four Corners has found that the donations were made as part of a series of “roundtable” events with coalition MPs and took place amid a furious disagreement within the former government over the future. of electronic cigarettes, or vapors, in Australia.
It is illegal to sell or possess nicotine vapors in Australia without a prescription.
A thriving black market has emerged in which cheap, disposable devices are sold on social media and under the counter of major tobacconist chains across the country.
As authorities struggle to eliminate illegal sales, the vaping industry and advocates, including some politicians, continue to push for broad legal access.
Four Corners found many examples of vaporizers that were sold on social media and used by teens to access illegal nicotine vapors. (Supplied)
The background of struggle
According to election records, the Liberal Party received sums of $ 20,000, $ 15,000, $ 7,000 and $ 2,000 from Sydney man 33, Brian Marlow last year.
Marlow is the director of Legalize Vaping Australia, which campaigns for the right to buy and sell nicotine-containing vapors. The organization is a branch of a group of libertarian activists, the Alliance of Australian Taxpayers.
Marlow is also a friend of Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes, who is one of the fiercest advocates of the Vape Coalition as a tool to quit smoking.
Senator Hughes says their friendship has nothing to do with their position.
“Surprisingly, I am able to decide on issues. This may surprise some people, but there are women in the Liberal Party who have their own minds and are able to determine how they feel about an issue.”
Senator Hughes chaired an investigation by the Senate committee on vaping in late 2020, in which she said vaping was a form of “tobacco damage reduction” that had helped her spend 60 days without a cigarette. .
The senator’s comments on the effectiveness of vaping as a method to quit smoking are at odds with research published in a government-commissioned report and with the latest findings from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Senator Hollie Hughes speaking after a 2020 Senate investigation into vaping, photographed with vaping lawyer Brian Marlow (far left), Senator Eric Abetz and Senator Matt Canavan. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
It was stated that the $ 44,000 in donations came from Mr. Marlow personally: Disclosure forms make no mention of Legalize Vaping Australia or any vaping interest.
After canceling an interview with Four Corners, Marlow responded in writing, revealing that the real source of the donation was Legalize Vaping Australia.
In mid-2020, the organization created a “fight fund” to oppose changes to vaping regulations.
“After the former Minister of Health [Greg Hunt] announced a ban on the import of vape products, with two weeks notice and zero consultation, vape stores across the country donated more than $ 100,000 to our organization in less than a week, ”he said. .
“From there, we organized a series of vaping roundtable events to allow working class vaporization store employees and store owners the opportunity to have a long-term relationship with members of the vaping. Parliament”.
Marlow said those roundtables included one with Senator Hughes, who was photographed with him on Facebook, as well as vaping lawyer Colin Mendelsohn, who is his prescribing doctor, and several vape store owners.
A photo posted on Facebook of those attending the roundtable meeting with Senator Hollie Hughes. (Supplied)
When asked why he had stated that the donations came from himself and not from the Legalize Vaping Australia fight fund, Marlow said it had been easier to do so.
“Trying to bring together several store owners, several employees, in various states and get them to pay and book each roundtable individually, etc. would have been too much work and similar to trying to graze cats,” he said.
“To make things easier, I paid for everything, which meant that I was forced to make the relevant statements.”
Senator Hollie Hughes was photographed with vaping advocates, including Brian Marlow, at a roundtable. (Supplied)
Marlow denied that the source of the donations had been hidden. He declined to say which other politicians had attended the roundtables or explained in detail how the payments were related to the facts.
When Four Corners asked for more clarification, Mr Marlow declined and said, “It won’t really bother me to waste any more time trying to explain the obvious bleeding.
“Enjoy your smear campaign.”
The senator used vapors to quit smoking
In an interview before Four Corners found out the true source of the donations, Senator Hughes said she did not know what Marlow had given to the party.
“There is nothing illegal about making a donation to the Liberal Party. There is nothing wrong with making a donation to the Liberal Party,” he said.
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes is passionately pro-vaping. (ABC Four Corners)
Fourth Corners later sent written questions to the senator about her knowledge of any donation from the vaping industry to the Liberal Party and her attendance at the roundtable meeting.
In a statement, Senator Hughes said: “LVA members [Legalise Vaping Australia] they are salt of the earth, everyday Australians.
“Many of these are, like me, vape enthusiasts who engaged in vapeo in an effort to quit smoking.
“They usually operate small family spray shops and have teamed up to have their interests represented.
“As an elected representative, I meet regularly with various industry representatives and business owners on a number of issues, as do all of my colleagues.”
A party spokesman said in a statement: “The Liberal Party discloses the donations to the Australian Electoral Commission in accordance with our obligations under the relevant funding and disclosure laws.”
Senator Hughes first became a vaping advocate after finding that it helped her quit socially.
“[I] He got some of the vapors, I did and I never, ever looked back, ”he said.
“So it was quitting accidentally, it’s probably the best way to describe it and I guess that again emphasized to me the effectiveness that can be as a tool to quit smoking.”
A government-commissioned study on vaping, led by Professor Emily Banks of the National University of Australia, reported in April that there was limited evidence that vaping would help people quit smoking.
The same study found that vaping posed serious public health risks, including lung injury and nicotine addiction, and that vapers were three times more likely to smoke cigarettes.
Wollongong University has found that imported vapors often contain high levels of nicotine even though the ingredient is not on the packaging. (Four Corners: Nick Wiggins)
Senator Hughes was one of 28 coalition members who wrote to then-Health Minister Greg Hunt in mid-2020 to oppose a plan to ban personal imports of over-the-counter nicotine.
“Greg and I didn’t agree with vaping,” he said. “It all came down to the aspect of personal choice.
“If you want to vaporize, if you want to smoke, if you want to have a nicotine pill or spray, you should be able to do that.”
Senator Hughes and his pro-vaping coalition partner Matt Canavan were outnumbered in the 2020 Senate investigation into vaping.
The majority of the committee, including Liberal Sarah Henderson and Labor Tony Sheldon, supported the sale of nicotine fumes only to those who stopped smoking with a prescription from their doctor.