From 1 July the only vapes available in this country should be those prescribed by medical practitioners and dispensed by pharmacies. As a paediatrician who has witnessed the extraordinary increase in childhood vaping addiction in Australia, I wish our government had the courage to do this years ago. As a politician, I’m watching with concern the pushback from the tobacco and vaping lobby – and the political parties they support.

The number of young Australians who vape has increased 12-fold in the last four years, to more than 12%. Vaping is highly addictive. With vaping rates soaring, we’ve also seen a tripling in teen smoking – the first time our teen smoking has risen in decades. It’s an entry point to the tobacco industry, which still kills at least 20,000 Australians a year.

Protagonists for the vaping industry are fighting tooth and nail to protect their patch, using the same playbook we’ve seen in the past from big tobacco. The fact is, it’s largely the same industry.

First, they’re going hard on influencer marketing and product placement. Instagram alone is home to more than 18,000 Australian “vaping influencer” profiles, many of which are directly linked to online vape stores.

Then there are the advertising campaigns fronted by lobby groups and related commercial interests. The........

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