New roles for Aldred

A federal opposition reshuffle has seen Member for Monash Mary Aldred appointed to two new roles including deputy opposition whip.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor last week announced his new shadow ministry and key opposition appointments. Ms Aldred was appointed deputy opposition whip and co-chair of the Coalition's new Illegal Tobacco Taskforce alongside Senator Richard Colbeck.
Ms Aldred said she was delighted to take up the two roles, with the taskforce position building on her work over the past few months.
"Since the ram-raid of a local grocery store in my electorate of Monash, I've taken up the issue of illegal tobacco, and the impact it is having on communities across Australia.
"From Inverloch to Longwarry, local people have been raising with me their concern about the impact on children being sold vapes, retail staff being assaulted and the increase in people being driven to the black market to buy illegal cigarettes because of the excessively high tobacco excise tax," Ms Aldred said.
Ms Aldred has continued to advocate for action on the growing illicit tobacco trade, pointing out that proceeds were funding organised crime and suspected terrorist activities, as well as impacting community safety.
"State and federal Labor governments have their head in the sand on this issue, and I'm pleased to have been asked to take on this role to help develop the Coalition's policy response," Ms Aldred said.