They're not banned outright because of the historic backlog of smokers. Tasmania is introducing a birth date cutoff, so younger generations are banned. Other

They're not banned outright because of the historic backlog of smokers. Tasmania is introducing a birth date cutoff, so younger generations are banned. Other states may follow. Also, they're not just taxed; they can't be advertised, they can't be displayed in shops, only one counter in a shop can sell them, they have gruesome images on the packets, and there's a LOT of support to quit smoking. The tobacco companies were using vaping as a way around all of these regulations, and an opportunity to once again market to younger generations, which is why i'm glad the govt is now doing something about vaping. I also doubt the black market is as large as you think. I'm sure it exists, but I just don't think it's as rich as you describe. We're "girt by ocean" on all sides, and if anybody has a successful smuggling route into Australia they likely want to maximise profit by smuggling higher value illegal substances.