Australia Senate Approves Cigarette Excise Hike

CANBERRA -(Dow Jones)- Lawmakers in Australia's upper house Senate on Tuesday approved a 25% increase in cigarette excise taxes.

The increase, which raised the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by about A$ 2.16, was enacted with immediate effect on April 30 but needed legislative approval. It will raise around A$5 billion over the next four years.

Canberra is also working on a separate plan to ban brand labels and other marketing imagery on cigarette packaging by 2012. Cigarette companies have vowed to fight that measure.