The New Zealand Parliament started its first reading of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill on Tuesday. This amendment seeks to repeal the prior government’s initiatives in controlling tobacco sales.
The previously set Smokefree 2025 goal aimed to reduce smoking rates for all population groups to less than 5 percent. To achieve this, the former government enacted the world’s first law banning tobacco sales for future generations, including a 90% reduction in the number of retailers selling smoked tobacco products, a low nicotine limit on smoked tobacco products, and a prohibition on sales to anyone born after January 1, 2009.
This amendment, introduced by the current coalition government, seeks to repeal all three policies before they take effect. Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello asserted that prior initiatives have effectively reduced smoking in New Zealand without these measures, predicting that the Smokefree goal will still be achieved by 2025. The New Zealand Health Survey showed that daily smokers have declined to 6.8 percent, down from 8.6 percent last year and 16.4 percent in 2012.
In contrast, opposition leader Chris Hipkins suggested that the amendment funds tax cuts at the cost of $5 billion in medical expenses due to smoking-related diseases. Janet Hoak, co-director of ASPIRE 2025 at the University of Otago Research Centre, also voiced her opposition, purporting that the repeal disregards strong research evidence and the views of Māori leaders, and perpetuates health inequalities. The Public Health Community Centre published a briefing arguing that the repeal would not reduce crime rates and enhance public safety, contrary to the government’s claim. It contended that a significantly reduced nicotine limit would make smoked tobacco products on the black market less appealing, and fewer outlets would increase public safety by reducing ram raids.
For further information, please follow this link.