Shortly after being sworn in as the new Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon has confirmed that his conservative government will revoke the ban on smoking in the country. The decision comes almost a year after Jacinda Ardern’s New Zealand Labour Party-led government imposed an infinite ban on smoking for those born on or after 1st January 2009.
The reversal, hailed by the tobacco industry, is reportedly expected to help the newly-elected coalition government pay for the tax cuts which were the major part of its poll promises.
According to reports, culling the ban on smoking was one of the agreements the National Party had signed as part of its coalition with New Zealand First party. The agreement includes “removing requirements for de-nicotisation, removing the reduction in retail outlets and the generation ban”.
PM Luxon says that the reversal will keep the bootlegging industry at bay. He reportedly said, “Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime.”
New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis had said last week that if the law was implemented, it would have reduced government revenue significantly.
“Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the Government books – with about $1 billion there,” Willis reportedly said.
The National Party emerged with the highest vote share in the general elections but fell short of a majority. It aligned with ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First to form the government.
Some of its key promises were to bring down inflation, and tax cuts. While the PM has said that the decision will generate revenue for the government, he said that “it was not the motivation”.
The anti-smoking law was passed in 2022 by the leftist government led by Jacinda Ardern and was due to be implemented in July 2024. The move had reportedly inspired UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to introduce a similar ban.
Meanwhile, anti-smoking group Health Coalition Aotearoa said that revoking the smoking ban was an insult to the country.
“This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry, whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” the group has said in a statement.
