Whakapapa Before Profit - Tupeka Kore Collective Calls For Cross Party Support For Smokefree Amendment Bill

07 December

The second reading of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill passed in Parliament last night - landmark legislation to ensure we achieve the goal of a Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025.

Tupeka Kore is a collective of academics, cessation experts and kaimahi Māori that are accountable to Māori whānau, Hapū and Iwi who say that it is encouraging to see those supporting the Bill. Particularly important is the widespreadrecognition that this Bill is essential to address entrenched health inequities for Māori and whānau.

Public opinion, including feedback from our communities, and the body of evidence has been clear: this Bill is a chance at ensuring New Zealanders’ health is no longer held hostage by tobacco. The same evidence shows that without this legislation, Māori are unlikely to reach the Smokefree 2025 goal alongside the general population.

Anaru Waa, Spokesperson for Tupeka Kore and leading Māori Researcher on Tobacco for Otago University says "There are four key components, the first three are making nicotine no longer addictive, reducing the ease of access to tobacco and protecting our future generations from ever taking up smoking. The fourth component is supporting Maori communities and leaders who have been fundamental to achieving this law"

This Bill has whakapapa to the 2010 Māori Affairs Select Committee Report that generated a inquiry into the tobacco industry and the outcome of tobacco use among Māori. This report identified a need for legislative controls, and a by Māori, for Māori approach to reducing smoking rates and the harm to Māori from smoking.

"We know that retail profits from tobacco are marginal and that customers buying tobacco do not drive footfall or spend more when compared to the majority of other customers who do not smoke. Cost to small retailers are often called ‘zombie’ arguments that are supported by the tobacco industry when their profits are threatened" says Waa.

The criticism of aspects of the Bill by some MPs therefore appears woefully out of touch with the majority of New Zealanders, and indeed, those who suffer the most from smoking related harms - whānau Māori.

Selah Hart, Spokesperson for Tupeka Kore and /CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora says "We can’t see any reason why anyone other than those people who profit from these products could possibly oppose these new laws. There is no amount of profit that can excuse the almost 5,000 deaths and many diseases caused by smoking per year in Aotearoa."

The design and marketing of cigarettes, and the addictive nature of nicotine (a central nervous system stimulant) alongside social inequity experienced by Māori has created a perfect storm of vulnerability to harm from tobacco. Research shows that reducing nicotine helps to reduce the physical addiction to cigarettes, and therefore removes a significant barrier to quitting.

Access to tobacco retailers goes hand in hand with higher rates of youth smoking, increased smoking among those who already smoke and lower likelihood of quitting. Restricting numbers of approved retailers protects our communities from the harm caused by tobacco, and from the commodification of our whānau hauora by tobacco companies.

"This Smokefree Action Plan is already 10 years overdue, thatequates to more than 50,000 loved ones and whānau members who have suffered horrendously and died" says Hart.

There is nothing to be gained from the sale of tobacco to our most vulnerable communities other than profit for those that care little for the protection of our whakapapa. Protection of our whakapapa means ensuring our tamariki never start smoking in the first place. The Bill makes the legal age of smoking one that increases over time, protecting our tamariki from ever accessing smoked tobacco legally.

The measures in this Bill are long-awaited, well researched and provide the opportunity for clear and decisive action on the inequity faced by Māori in Aotearoa. Politicians must recognise the responsibility they have to Māori to ensure that equal citizenship means active protection of our health and wellbeing.

Māori refuse to allow our health and wellbeing to continue to be sold to the highest bidder, in exchange for death, disease and addiction.

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