Rohan Pike, Dr Nick Coatsworth & Mary Aldred MP, will Address the National Press Club on “Illicit tobacco – It is costing Australia heaps”.
Join us at the National Press Club for a timely discussion on the growing challenge of illicit tobacco and its impact on public health, government revenue, community and retail staff safety, and law enforcement. Hear from renowned health expert Dr Nick Coatsworth, Mary Aldred MP, Chair of the Coalition’s Anti-Illicit Tobacco Taskforce, alongside Rohan Pike, former Australian Border Force officer and leading anti-illicit trade consultant. Together, they will share their insights on the scale of the problem, the policy response required, and what can be done to disrupt the illegal tobacco market.
Bio – Rohan Pike
Rohan Pike draws on 25 years of national and international investigations expertise with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force to advise businesses and governments how best to identify, prevent and respond to the growing threat of illicit trade. His enforcement career included a three-year placement in Pakistan and several successful, high-profile cases in fraud, foreign bribery, corruption, terrorism and money laundering. While at the Australian Border Force, Rohan founded the Tobacco Strike Team, Australia’s first dedicated illicit tobacco unit. That experience laid the foundations for his current national and international consultancy where Rohan leverages Australia’s tobacco policy mistakes to help governments avoid the same adverse consequences.
Bio – Dr Nick Coatsworth
Dr Nick Coatsworth is a respiratory and infectious diseases physician and one of the country’s most recognised medical communicators.
A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Nick also holds a Master of International Public Health from the University of Sydney. His clinical and public-policy experience gives him a particular interest in the tensions between public health and broader public policy priorities.
As Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nick helped advise the Australian Government and communicate complex health-policy decisions to the public. He has since continued to contribute to national debates about health reform, public health, health security and the effective design of government interventions.
Nick has held senior clinical and governance roles across the Australian health system, including Executive Director of Medical Services at Canberra Hospital, Chair of Médecins Sans Frontières Australia and Director of CareFlight Limited. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Australian National University and lectures on health security at the National Security College. He has recently submitted a doctoral thesis examining decision-making during the early stages of the Australian pandemic response.
In 2022, the University of Western Australia awarded Nick an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his service to medicine. Since 2024, he has served as the Nine Network’s medical expert and co-created and presented the health documentary series Do You Want to Live Forever?
Bio – Mary Aldred MP
Mary Aldred is the Federal Liberal Member for Monash, elected at the 2025 general election.
Mary Aldred is passionate about the Gippsland region and previously worked in a number of leadership roles for local business and community organisations over 20 years. Mary is passionate about small and family business, and left school at the age of 15 to work as a farm hand in her parent’s business.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Monash University, Mary also has a Master of Agribusiness from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from Federation University Gippsland campus. In 2018 Mary was announced as a Winner of the Australian Financial Review’s Boss Young Executive of the Year. Mary has also studied Infrastructure in Market Economy: Public Private Partnerships at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
At the age of 27 Mary was appointed as the founding CEO of the Committee for Gippsland, representing hundreds of businesses across the region. During this time Mary co—authored two major reports on the economic structural adjustment of the Latrobe Valley energy transition.
Following her role at the Committee for Gippsland, Mary was appointed as CEO of the Franchise Council of Australia, an organisation representing over 500 member businesses that are part of the $181 billion Australian franchising sector. Mary took a strong national stand on behalf of Australian small business owners and led the FCA through a major period of reform.
As Head of Corporate Affairs for Fujitsu, Mary had responsibility for the Asia Pacific region, and built a solid understanding of critical current issues for Australia in national security, defence and cyber technology.
In the Parliament, Mary serves as Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Communications, Sport and Arts Committee, as a member on the Appropriations and Committee, Publications Committee, Selection Committee and as a member of the Joint Statutory Public Accounts and Audit Committee. Mary also serves as the Deputy Opposition Whip and as Co-Chair of the Coalition’s Illegal Tobacco Taskforce.
