Celebrating Minister Tariana Turia's contributions to a smokefree Aotearoa 2025
After a long career in NZ politics, the Honourable Tariana Turia will be stepping down from her parliamentary duties.
Tariana has been a vocal opponent of the tobacco industry and has become a powerful driving force in supporting the
aspiration of a smoke-free Aotearoa-NZ to by 2025. Introducing higher excise taxes, banning tobacco displays, promoting
smoke-free cars and introducing plain packaging has led to Tariana becoming a recent recipient of the 2014 World Health
Organisation (WHO) ‘World No Tobacco Day’ award.
To honour Tariana’s undying commitment to ‘Auahikore’ the tobacco control sector has organised a farewell to acknowledge
not only her work within the sector, but to celebrate her commitment to Whānau Ora, her dedication to her people and her
steadfast integrity maintained throughout her public life.
Zoe Martin-Hawke the Manager of Te Ara Hā Ora, part of Hapai Te Hauora Tapui charged with creating leadership around
tobacco control believes ‘Tariana’s positive impact on Auahikore will be felt for many years after she leaves
parliament. Her integral role in tobacco control will be sorely missed, however, it is now up to the rest of us to
ensure we maintain Tariana’s high standards and achieve her vision.