In little more than 48 hours, more than 65,000 people have signed a petition, started by Senator Matt Canavan and myself, slamming the government’s sudden enforcement of laws to stop the importation of liquid nicotine.

We’ve rallied support from other members of the Government who reject the heavy-handed treatment of vapers, the outcome of which will likely to result in a return to cigarettes and an increase in black market activity.

My office has fielded dozens of calls from people who are devastated by this government crackdown on the importation of vaping liquids, such as nicotine.

They have opted to vape because they’ve struggled to kick the nicotine addiction and they’ve found vaping works for them.

There is considerable research which indicates that vaping and e-cigarettes are far safer, and the transition helps people kick the habit permanently.

There are only two countries in the world that have banned vaping, and that’s Turkey and Australia.

The end result of this crackdown which looks to impose fines of up to $220,000, is that more people will go back to cigarettes and hence we have worse health outcomes.

The petition can be found at www.vapepetition.com.au