Excise and Excise-Equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill – Second Reading

Hone Harawira, Maori Party Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Mr Speaker, when Minister Turia began this debate under extraordinary urgency, she said that “there are only a few matters before this House that one could stand, with hand on heart, and declare this was a life and death debate”.

This bill she added, “is, purely and simply, about saving lives”.

So today we celebrate another step in saving the lives of New Zealanders addicted to tobacco, in reducing the number of our citizens who die in their thousands every year from smoking - and for those who want to know exactly what we’re talking about, it’s about trying to put a dent into the wiping out of the population of Kaitaia, every single year.

And for us as a Maori Party, our cause is made even more dramatic because every year Maori gather to commemorate the lives of the 600 sons of the Battalion lost in the 5 years of the Second World War, and yet we mourn the 600 lives of Maori people, stolen every year by the decisions of British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, Phillip Morris and others, to maximise their profits from addicting and killing people.

So today is a big day, and an important day, not just for Maori, but for the whole country, as we take another step on the march to save the lives of 5,000 Kiwis lost every year to tobacco – a march begun by smokefree activists like Dr Papärangi Reid, Shane Bradbrook, Dr Marewa Glover, Ben Youdan, Moana Maniapoto, Mere Wilson and many, many others, and aided by organisations like the Health Sponsorship Council, Te Hotu Manawa Maori, the Quit Group, Te Reo Marama, Aukati Kai Paipa, Auahi Kore, Global Smokefree, Smokefree Northland; Hapai Te Hauora Tapui; ASH; Tala Pasifika and all the others who have been working for years to bring our smoking rates down.

And today’s step is one of the hardest we will ever take, because today we take the tough decision to increase taxes - 14% onto the tax on roll-your-owns followed by another 33.3% on all tobacco products.

And we don’t do it just because we think it might help reduce smoking and improve health outcomes, we do it because the 2008 report of the Global Tobacco Epidemic said that “increasing the price of tobacco through higher taxes is the single most effect way to decrease consumption and encourage tobacco users to quit”.

And when people tell us that tax increases won’t win us votes, we say that some things you don’t do for votes … you do them because they are the right thing to do, that some things are more important than winning votes.

And when people say that smokers won’t be happy, you can tell them that in fact 80% of smokers actually want to stop, and they tell us that anything we can do to help them stop is a bonus for them.

We know that putting up the price will also force people to cut back, but more importantly it will also provide a strong incentive for smokers to quit, and if it helps to convince young people not to even start, then that’s great as well.

And you can tell the other ones that even though smokers mightn’t be happy, you can be sure that most of their whanau will be happy if this tax increase helps them to stop smoking.

And yes it’s true that increasing the price of tobacco is a tough measure for those who don’t have a lot of money anyway, but the truth is that we are dealing with one of the most addictive substances in the world, a substance described by medical researchers as being even more addictive than heroin.

Mr Speaker - tobacco is the largest cause of preventable death and disease for Maori, a cost that no nation can sustain, and a cost that no family should have to bear, but we have, and we do, and I constantly ask myself why?

If a faulty part in a car was responsible for even two deaths, that car manufacturer would be sued for billions; if another country was responsible for the deaths of a couple of hundred of our citizens, we would go to war; but here we are, losing 5,000 of our country’s family to the tobacco industry, and we do so little to stop them.

An industry driven by multi-billion dollar tobacco giants who are directly responsible for the huge social and economic costs to our country:

• the insurance costs for fire, for property, for health, and for life itself

• the cost to our health sector - the chemo, the radiotherapy, the surgery

• the stench that can’t be washed out of the clothes

• the lingering stink in our homes, our offices, our cars and our workplaces

• the damage to the unborn child

• the suffering of children trapped in a smokers car

• the loss of earnings of those in care

• the loss of years for those who smoke

• and the loss of life that every family is forced to bear

And so I take this opportunity to also thank all of my colleagues on the MASC, our chairman, the honourable Tau Henare, Simon Bridges, Paul Quinn, the honourable Parekura Horomia, Mita Ririnui and Kelvin Davis for the work being done by the committee as part of the Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry and the impact of Tobacco on Maori, and I also extend my thanks to Metiria Turei, Carmel Sepuloni, William Su’a and Mr Iain Lees-Galloway for their attendance and their support as well.

Mr Speaker, I would just like to remind all members of this house that although our inquiry is specifically targeted at Maori, we knew going in that if we were successful in bringing forward legislation to slow and hopefully stop the Tobacco Industry in it’s tracks, the benefits that would flow from that decision would enhance the lives of all citizens of Aotearoa, Maori, Pacifica, Pakeha, Asian, and all other peoples who have come to call this land home.

The fact was that we simply could not see how parliament would allow us to mount an investigation into the tobacco industry, until one night Shane Bradbrook of Te Reo Marama, who has been a critical part of our inquiry and a dedicated and committed anti-tobacco activist, came up with the bright idea of using the “Maori” angle to get an inquiry going.

And we have been to different parts of the country, hearing submissions from victims, from families, from doctors, from nurses, from health agencies, and even from British America Tobacco themselves, building a case for our final report to parliament which I understand will come before the house in July of this year.

And I have seen my colleagues grow in their commitment to our task, and I have heard some excellent speeches from them in tonight’s debate and it encourages me for the last couple of months ahead of us.

So on behalf of our Committee I wish to thank the Minister for the inspiration that this bill gives us in the work that have yet to do, and the challenge that her efforts have provided for us, to prepare a report that truly reflects the feelings that we have been witness to, the damage that we have heard evidence of, and the recommendations that this country’s children and grandchildren might one day enjoy a world that is tobacco-free.

Mr Speaker, when I knew I would be speaking tonight, I actually prepared an attack speech because I thought we might be really up against it on this one, but I was wrong, deeply wrong, and so I express my sincere thanks to all speakers tonight, speakers from all parties for their forbearance of this bill being brought to the house under extraordinary urgency, for the depth of their contributions, and for their support for this initiative.

Mr Speaker, 4 years ago I attended a hui where I shared the goal, Tobacco Out Of Aotearoa by 10 December 2010 - six years after bars and restaurants went smoke-free.

My timing might be just a wee bit out Mr Speaker, but today we take another step on the road to a Smokefree Aotearoa with this landmark bill tonight.

And speaking of the smokefree bars and restaurants bill Mr Speaker, let me take this opportunity also to add for the second night in a row, my special thanks to Mr Tukuroirangi Morgan - last night for his work in bringing the Waikato-Tainui River Settlement Bill through it’s second reading, and tonight for his work in preparing the Smokefree Bars and Restaurants Bill which he unfortunately was not in the house to see pass through the house, but I know is happy to see has become part of the fabric of this nation.

Mr Speaker, the Maori Party is proud to stand tonight to honour our co-leader, the honourable Tariana Turia, Minister for Tobacco Control, for her persistence with this bill, for her courage, and for her commitment to helping to save lives, to reduce smoking, and to make our country a country we can all be proud of – a Smokefree Aotearoa.

Tena koe e te rangatira e Tari e hängai nei i tënei kaupapa kia whai oranga mo nga iwi katoa o Aotearoa, huri noa e te whare, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tätou katoa.

ENDS

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