Hon Tariana Turia
Associate Minister of Health
Minister for Disability Issues
Launch of Tobacco Control Research Turanga and WERO Whanau End Smoking Regional Whanau Ora Challenge
Te Whānau o Waipareira, Whānau Centre Health Clinic, Henderson, Auckland
Thursday 26 April 2012; 2.30pmSpeech
I want to thank Te Whānau o Waipareira – and in particular this wonderful Whānau Centre Health Clinic – in hosting this
launch today.
I am delighted to congratulate Dr Marewa Glover and Associate Professor Chris Bullen – the co-directors of Tūranga- and
of course the key change-makers and decision-leaders who are included in this multi-institution, multi-disciplinary
network.
And it is great to see Dr Lynne Lane as the Chair of your advisory board – there is a great team gathered here today, of
people who have been pioneers of the health promotion cause for so long. I am honoured to be in your company.
This is a brilliant week to be launching the Tobacco Control Research Tūranga as part of the long-term vision of
achieving a smokefree Aotearoa by 2025. It has been a week of extremes – of aspirations and allegations, as discussion
has raged around tobacco reform.
Just one week ago I announced that Cabinet has agreed, in principle, to introduce a plain packaging regime in alignment
with Australia, but this is subject to the outcome of a public consultation process to be undertaken later this year.
One might have thought the world had fallen.
Over night the United States Chamber of Commerce joined with a consortium of business groups, telling the New Zealand
Government that this ill-advised and arbitrary measure, could have a “possible impact on New Zealand exports such as dairy and wine, should other governments feel emboldened to take similar
measures”.
British American Tobacco immediately set up a twitter account to communicate their views on tobacco related matters.
And Imperial Tobacco came out and said there was no evidence that plain packaging will help stamp out smoking.
But it was not all doom and gloom. Because as quick as the attack came, just as quick was the response.
Where there was one twitter account, there now became three – two new accounts reacting and rejecting the tobacco
industry claims.
The Prime Minister came out and said, “if we want to have the sovereign right that says if you want to bring cigarettes into New Zealand they have to be plain
packaging…I haven’t seen anything yet that tells me our law would prevent us from doing that”.
And Professor Janet Hoek came to the forefront, armed with a range of peer-reviewed scientific journals and overseas
research to prove the industry’s claims were plain wrong.
In less than seven days we had a perfect storm of politicians, social media, industry, advocates, lobbyists and
academics, fronting up to the challenge of the movement to become smokefree.
But there were two particular stories that gave me great heart and w hich I want to share with us in this very exciting
day, as we embrace a significant programme of work to support the goal of reducing smoking prevalence.
Yesterday, breaking news in Taranaki, was the announcement by Taranaki District Health Board that it will ban smoking by
staff, patients and visitors on all health board property including mental health facilities by February 2013.
The hospital wasn’t just issuing an ultimatum : they would offer staff help to quit in the form of nicotine patches and
information; and upon being admitted patients would be supported to stop them from lighting up.
The general manager Sandra Boardman couched her news with perhaps one of the most radical statements yet – she told the
world that she believed people would appreciate hospitals were a place to get well!
The second story was one of a young man visiting my office, who stayed behind to tell me about his journey to become
smokefree. For this young man, it was his love and tautoko for his brother that helped him to quit the habit. His
brother was a Smokefree Champion. So the young man in my office and his mum set upon a pathway to become smokefree, to
support the example his brother had set for the nation
It was a wonderful example of whānau ora in action – each of them standing together, and becoming change makers – a
change maker in their community; a change maker in their home.
This was a whanau taking control of their health, and working together to achieve wellbeing.
This then is the foundation from which the New Zealand Tobacco Control Research Tūranga is born.
I see that your overarching goal is to provide innovative research delivering new knowledge to inform policies and
practices which will assist in achieving a smokefree New Zealand by 2025.
It is about having a supportive environment for change – the policies and legislation which encourage us to live
smokefree lives.
It is about having leadership and leaders – and I want to formally place on record my heartfelt appreciation of the role
each of you play across the sector – the Ministry of Health, Health Research Council, the National Institute for Health
Innovation, the Centre for Tobacco Control Research, the Cancer Society, Heart Foundation, Smokefree Coalition,
Smokefree Pacific Action Network, various DHBS, universities, wānanga, the Enua Ola Churches Programme, and I am sure
this list is only a beginning.
It sounds like a lot – and actually that’s exactly what we need to embed the change in our lives.
But perhaps the most important factor of all is the role that our whānau and our families will play in helping their
loved ones to quit.
It is whānau who will ultimately have the greatest impact on stopping our children from being tempted to take up a
life-long, life-ending addiction.
And so I am utterly delighted to learn about WERO – the Whānau End smoking Regional whānau Ora challenge!
What a fabulous idea.
We are all aware, that no matter how committed we are to the 2025 goal, the greatest challenge will be in achieving
dramatic declines in smoking amongst Māori and Pacific.
It is commendable that one of your objectives is to ensure priority populations, in particular Māori and Pasifika
people, are well represented and engaged at all levels of the Tūranga.
Furthermore, what you have committed to in the WERO project is to set in motion a transformation amongst our whānau –
through the means of a group stop smoking competition.
I was really excited when Marewa shared with me her intentions for this project – it is a pragmatic and principled
approach which conceptualises being smokefree as an essential element of Whānau Ora – to be healthy; to be strong; to
have aspiration and hope for our future.
We all know that the vision to be smokefree by 2025 is ambitious. But we have will on our side.
And I want to assure you that the government’s commitment to this goal remains resolute.
The partnership forged today grew out of the commitment of the Ministry of Health and the Health Research Council to
give life to that goal, to start to prepare the roadmap to get us there.
No one policy; no one politician; no one project will get us to our goal.
But together, collectively, if all us of work together with our whānau very much driving our approach, I am absolutely
confident we will achieve our vision.
This is our chance to be innovative, to test and develop new ideas, to focus on success – and to achieve a tupeka
kore/tobacco free Aotearoa by 2025.
ENDS