Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise to support this bill. Look, nothing’s really changed. We’re sticking with the same legislation that’s driven down smoking rates to 6.8 percent last year from 8.6 percent in 2022, and down from—[Interruption]

SPEAKER: I’ll tell you what; just hold on, Mr Uffindell. We’ve stopped the clock. Would members who need to leave the House please do so quietly, with a bit of respect for the speaker on his feet. Please resume.

SAM UFFINDELL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. And down from 16.4 percent in 2012. Look, smoking rates have been falling consistently for some time, and that trend will continue under our Government. Labour’s changes would have created a black market with more smuggling, more ram raids, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Look, this Government is committed to the Smokefree 2025 goal, but we’re taking a different regulatory approach. New Zealand has seen some of the largest drops in smoking across the world. And in the last three years, 219,000 people have stopped smoking, with 36 percent of those being Māori. If those trends continue, New Zealand will hit the deadline smokefree goal of less than 5 percent of the population daily by 2025. I support this bill.

Ayesha Verrall.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Tēnā koe, te Pīka. Is it No. 6?

SPEAKER: Just a minute—just lost my way here slightly. I call the honourable Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

Kia ora. I really appreciated being called “honourable” e te Pīka. I’d like to stand and speak in opposition, as Opposition in opposition, to the bill that is before us. This bill is married to the last one, which is also married to the one before it and the one before it, where we continuously have a Government who puts profit over people and prioritises industry interests over public health interests. We continue to see a Government which has absolutely no shame in its continual advancement of its anti-Māori approach in policy and how it continues to justify its wellbeing of profit over people. It is well known that Māori have the highest smoking rates and we have the highest rate of death and tobacco-related illnesses, so to sit here and say that these decisions aren’t being made against us is an absolute myth. We know what this Government’s agenda is, and we will continue to call it out for what it is so that our people can see, because we’ve got to keep reminding ourselves, Aotearoa: 83 percent of Māori did not support this Government—83 percent of Māori did not support this Government—which is why there is such a comfort in how and what it is that they are rolling out in this hundred days of absolute colonising chaos.

What we have here is an ability for a Government to actually do the right thing by its indigenous peoples and by tangata w’enua, but they are so hell bent and so bitter and twisted by what has happened in the past to them, and so vengeful against Māori not supporting them in the last election, that we continue to see this absolute kick in the face of advocates such as our whaea Tariana Turia, Hone Harawira, who are champions of Smokefree Aotearoa; many of our advocates who are upstairs in the gallery. You completely disregarded the experts, such as those from Hāpai te Hauora. It is an unconscionable blow to the health of Māori in what we are seeing rolled out before us today. Nine hundred and nineteen submissions—Hāpai te Hauora, Tala Pasifika—and here we have this Government with a Prime Minister who says, and I want to make sure I get the wording right. The question was, to the Prime Minister, “Do you know how many lives may be lost because you are making these changes?”, and the Prime Minister responds, on 4 December, “Well, not really. That’s not been our approach. What has happened here is that our party and others oppose this legislation.” “Have you asked the question how many lives might be lost making this change?” “No”, our Prime Minister responded. “No. What I have focused on is actually realising that [we’re] concentrating on the distribution to 600 outlets throughout the whole of New Zealand”. So, again, when the Prime Minister was asked “How many lives might be lost by making this change; have you focused on that?”, the answer was no.

So, today, we were debating with the Minister of Health on what he is guaranteeing. The Minister of Health is guaranteeing to us and Aotearoa that he has a better model, that he will personally take focus and responsibility and be all in the detail, all over what has been proposed to look after us. We are being told and guaranteed that he will act in the best interests of us as Māori, and I guess that helps us in some way, to put to rest that this isn’t about a billion-dollar tax revenue opportunity for this Government’s rich mates—absolutely not! Why would those 83 percent of Māori who didn’t support this Government go away with that belief, that, in fact, we have a Government who’s prioritising the interests of the industry, the tobacco advocates, and continuously showing to us that they are out of touch, out of communication, out of contact with any of the very communities, the very public health experts, who have spent generations trying to hold this? And to take credit, to say, “Hey, it’s OK how it’s going. We feel we can make the changes now because the status quo’s working.” is to insinuate that there is no future investment or future vision for the wellbeing of us. There’s absolutely no transformation ever promised by this Government. They will continue to backpedal to the place of comfort where the very systems that have harmed us are what they are going to be putting forward before us.

We are calling for bold and systemic action—we are not going to see it from this Government, whānau mā. So we stand again in opposition—complete opposition—of what’s been proposed before Aotearoa.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Let’s be very clear about a few points about smoking: smoking is bad for your health. Second, our intention is clear: we want to continue to reduce smoking rates and to stop young people from starting smoking.

The nature of addiction is that demand does not respond rationally to reducing supply. While the demand for cigarettes is falling abruptly, limiting the number of outlets penalises the 300,000 people still dependent on cigarettes. If we take Auckland for an example, a 90 percent reduction in retail outlets will cause chaos. That would make for probably about 30 outlets for approximately 90,000 smokers. If you do the rough maths, they would need to serve two customers every minute, which kind of does point out that this legislation—there’s no way to make this happen; it does not make sense.

We’re on track to hit the smokefree target of 2025 and continue to drive down our smoking rates. While we’re committed to it, we do not think that this legislation will do it. So, therefore, I commend this bill to the House.

In the last day in this House, we have heard some outrageous statements made about the last 2022 amendment to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. We were told that that bill was virtue-signalling and that it will have no effect. So I want to say why it is that that bill matters. This is why. It matters because tobacco is the most harmful product in New Zealand. It kills 50 percent of the people who use it. It is the leading preventable cause of death in New Zealand.

I want to tell the people on that side of the House about what smoking does to the people in our community, in case they don’t know. In my years as a junior doctor, I admitted to hospital thousands of people suffering from the harms of smoking—people who had emphysema so bad that they became prisoners in their own home, and the slightest cold set them off and brought them to hospital gasping for air, and they would tell me that even when they were well, they couldn’t walk to their mailbox. I have diagnosed dozens of people with cancer. I have seen many people have amputations due to tobacco.

The 2022 amendment to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act was evidence-based. The denicotinisation of cigarettes has been studied in multiple clinical trials. Retail outlets are known to be associated with undermining people’s efforts to quit. They are known to be concentrated in our poorest communities and those communities with more Māori and Pacific people living in them. Do you know the reason why this Government is cancelling our Act? It’s because it actually would have got there. It would have got us to our Smokefree 2025 goal, which previously was a bipartisan-held goal, and without that legislation, it’s predicted that this Government will take until 2061 to achieve that.

We know that that legislation is incredibly popular, and 60 percent of New Zealand don’t think this repeal should go ahead. That’s why that side of the House was silent on this issue at the last election, and in the coalition agreement the voters learnt that a dirty deal was done behind closed doors, and we found out that these proposals that are a wish list from the tobacco industry were making their way into our households. Thousands of people, over 40,000 New Zealanders, signed a petition against this bill. Over 9,000 doctors were parts of organisations that demanded a select committee process. Hundreds of health organisations have condemned the Minister of Health and the Associate Minister of Health for bringing in this bill.

The cartoonists have had their turn too, calling out “Dr Cigareti” and “Nicotine Willis” and making the Government a laughing stock. And speaking of a laughing stock, we have the mystery of the document that miraculously appeared in the Minister’s office, but she can’t say how it got there, and she can’t really give satisfactory answers to the House about whether or not she spoke the truth to a journalist on this matter. This—

SPEAKER: Anything that might be considered to be an accusation of inappropriate speaking to the House—I’ve let go the term “dirty deal”. I think you’ve just got to be a little calmer about the way you put your argument.

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: This week, I had the privilege of travelling up and down the country to meet with New Zealanders who care deeply about this bill. One of the highlights of my visit was to go to Manukura School in Palmerston North. I met with about a hundred year 12 and year 13 students who should be entitled to a smokefree future. They deserve long years with their grandparents. They deserve a future free of the influence of tobacco. I want to tell the members on that side of the House that their ramming this bill through under urgency will not achieve what they think it will. Citizens have options in this country too, and the options that many in the Health Coalition Aotearoa are considering pursuing is a citizens initiated referendum to make sure that this issue that stinks doesn’t go away. The smell of this issue will hang around this Government for months and years to come.

Our people deserve a smokefree future. I’m proud that in the Labour Party I played my part in fighting for that, and we continue to oppose this bill.

There is no doubt that smoking and second-hand smoke directly cause and contribute to long-term negative effects on the body, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. It is one of the main causes of premature death and disability in New Zealand. This Government is committed to the Smokefree 2025 goal. We want to continue to reduce the smoking rate, but we are taking a different regulatory approach. We want an approach that is practical and helps smokers to quit. We are supporting a package of initiative—an initiative that’s focused on those who need them the most—to ensure we reach the Smokefree 2025 goal. I commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. I enjoy listening to the language from members on the other side of the House, who are clearly not describing exactly the detrimental effects and impacts on communities that this repeal legislation will do.

Smokefree 2025, at its core, is simply about saving lives. It was making sure that our tamariki and our mokopuna didn’t grow up around tobacco, they didn’t grow up around cigarettes, they didn’t get tempted to have a sneaky cigarette, because we know that once they do, they are hooked. What this Government is actually doing is making it far more accessible. Despite their semantics and their words saying “Oh, no, we still believe in the target.”, the facts are on the table. Smoking kills. It is very clear.

Thousands of New Zealanders around this country are clear that they don’t support this. The Government talks about having a mandate. Simply look at the numbers: New Zealanders have said they do not support this course of action. It is absolutely appalling that the Minister introduces this bill here off the back of repealing the Māori Health Authority.

Every member on that side of the House has stood in this House and said, “We’re committing to smoking cessation programmes.” Show me the money. Show all of those workers out there who work hard in our communities to stop people from smoking—on that side of the House, it’s all rhetoric. They are going to take the money that’s going to be provided through taxes and they’re going to give it to their rich mates. It’s as simple as that. Follow the money. The lines they read come straight from the lobby industry for tobacco. It’s as simple as that. They might sit down on that side of the House and say, “No, no; this is what our community have said.” They’ve all said the same thing, and those are drafted lines that are given to this Government to put through this terrible, terrible bill.

SPEAKER: I’ll just make the point that it is quite contrary to the Standing Orders to suggest that anyone in the House is somehow beholden to anyone outside of the House—other than those who elect them, of course. I just suggest that the member think about that in the balance of his contribution.

Hon PEENI HENARE: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The evidence will bear itself out.

It’s quite clear to me that on this side of the House—and to many of my colleagues on this side of the House—when that side talks about a black market, actually what they mean is targeting Māori. That means that they’re going to put more cigarettes, more smokes, into our community. Guess what! It’s going to be Māori people, Pacific people, low socio-economic people who will be hugely impacted by this.

We’ve heard terrible statistics. We’ve heard this Government say, “Oh, well, you know, it’s already trending down, but we don’t want it to trend down too fast.” That’s the message that they’re sending: “We want it to trend down, but we’re going to just slow it down a little bit because it’s going too fast for us. We’re not making enough money out of this.” That’s the sad reality of the work being done by this Government.

I recall my cousin—actually, member of the National Party—Mr Tau Henare, who led the Māori Affairs Committee on an inquiry into Smokefree 2025. At the end of that inquiry, Tau Henare, a long-time smoker, a lifetime smoker, took the commitment to stop smoking. It’s been an up and down journey for him, but guess what? He’s there now, and I’m proud of him. The point, though, is that at that time, some 50,000-odd New Zealanders—Māori and non-Māori—signed a petition to say, “This just isn’t good enough. Let’s set a target and let’s make sure we eliminate smoking in our communities.”

Some of those people are in the gallery today; those hard-working people who made the target a reality for our people—the reality that this Government is stripping away. The likes of Sue Taylor; a staunch advocate for Māori health and, indeed, for this particular kaupapa. I want to mention one of my good tuakana Shane Bradbrook, another man who fought really hard and, sadly, also copped the consequences from, what we like to call in politics, the dark arts. Hone Harawira, a former member of this House, campaigned up and down this country passionately and still does to this day. Anaru Waa, Heather Gifford, the many Māori researchers who have clearly made the case that smoking kills—this Government is going back on that, and that’s simply not acceptable. I don’t buy for one second them saying that “We’re still holding fast to the target, yet continuing to increase the accessibility of cigarettes in our community.” It just doesn’t stack up.

Throughout the course of this bill, this side of the House will continue to prosecute this bill clause by clause, line by line, to make sure that the stink that comes with it will continue to hang around the neck of this Government.

It’s a pleasure to rise after my whanaunga from the North, the Hon Peeni Henare, and to follow this for a brief contribution on this bill. I rise as a former smoker—I’m not proud of it and it’s something I deeply regret. But I look at New Zealand’s track record of reducing smoking rates over the last few decades, and the evidence is clear: what has driven that down—the two main reasons are increase in taxes, and the second area is a change in attitudinal behaviour towards smoking. It’s just not cool.

We are absolutely committed to following that line of thinking through actions to get us to Smokefree 2025. My colleague down here pointed that we are on track to achieve Smokefree 2025 aspirations. I just don’t believe that this, the actions that we’re repealing, would have actually substantially reduced smoking rates even further, so I commend this bill to the House.

I call on Ingrid Leary.

Ingrid Leary: Sorry, Mr Speaker—

SPEAKER: We’re done.

Ingrid Leary: Thank you.

SPEAKER: No, sorry. We’ve actually used up all the speaking slots. Sorry about that.

Ingrid Leary: Sorry?

SPEAKER: What’s that? [Interruption] Oh, sorry—

Ingrid Leary: I believe it’s a first lot—

SPEAKER: We’re done? [Interruption] Yeah, we are done.

Ingrid Leary: I would have been happy to take a call, but thank you, Mr Speaker.

SPEAKER: I know that you’re always happy to take a call, and many of us are quite happy to listen. But that concludes the first reading.

This bill is set down for second reading immediately.

Second Reading