December 01, 2023
Smokefree cuts a death sentence
Former Māori Party MP Hone Harawira, who drove the Māori Affairs Select Committee inquiry into tobacco control, says changes to the smokefree law will come at an unacceptable cost to Māori will suffer for the profits of tobacco company shareholders.
The coalition Government is set to repeal last year’s changes to the Smokefree Environments Act which would have slashed the number of tobacco outlets and reduced the nicotine content of cigarettes.
Mr Harawira says Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ explanation the Government needs to revenue for tax cuts is a disgrace.
“Māori will die so white people get rich. That’s the long and the short of it brother and that’s the stuff that really pisses me off. I mean, if Shane Reti had come out with a plan or the government, National, had come out with a plan to say, actually, we think these things need to be changed, different story, but they haven’t,” he says