New Zealand’s new government is planning a controversial move to revoke its world-renowned law that bans smoking for future generations, as reported by “The Guardian.” This repeal, aimed at helping fund tax cuts, is being criticized by public health officials as a decision that could cost thousands of lives and prove catastrophic, especially for the Maori communities.
In 2022, New Zealand enacted groundbreaking legislation that gradually raises the legal smoking age. This law, which was designed to prevent people born after January 2009 from legally purchasing cigarettes, aimed to avert thousands of smoking-related deaths and save billions of dollars for the healthcare system.
The legislation inspired similar plans in the United Kingdom to phase out smoking for future generations and included several measures to make smoking less accessible. These included significantly reducing the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products, permitting their sale only through specialized tobacco shops, and drastically cutting the number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes from 6,000 to just 600 nationwide.
Originally set to be implemented from July 2024, the laws are now facing repeal as part of a coalition agreement with the populist New Zealand First Party. The National Party has agreed to cancel the amendments as part of their coalition deal.
New Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced on Saturday that the measures would be scrapped before March 2024. The proceeds from cigarette sales will be redirected towards tax cuts for the coalition. The National Party had to find new ways to fund its tax plan after its coalition partner, New Zealand First, rejected a proposal to allow foreign buyers back into the real estate market.
This decision to revoke the anti-smoking law has sparked significant debate and concern among health experts and the public. The law was seen as a pioneering step in public health policy, aiming to create a smoke-free future for the coming generations. Its potential repeal raises questions about the balance between public health and economic policies, particularly in the context of tax cuts and fiscal management.
The move also highlights the complex dynamics of coalition governments, where policy decisions often require compromises and negotiations between different political entities. The debate in New Zealand reflects a broader global conversation about the best approaches to public health, the role of legislation in shaping health outcomes, and the intersection of health and economic policies.
