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New Zealand
New Zealand scraps world-first smoking
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‘generation ban’ to fund tax cuts

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Health experts say axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next
generation will cost thousands of lives

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New Zealand’s new National-led coalition government will scrap a series of measures
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designed to reduce smoking rates. Photograph: Tim Graham/Alamy → Political
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Eva Corlett in Wellington
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Mon 27 Nov 2023 00.53 GMT e

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1 New Zealand’s new government will scrap the country’s world-leading law to
ban smoking for future generations to help pay for tax cuts – a move that public
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health officials believe will cost thousands of lives and be “catastrophic” for
Māori communities.

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2 In 2022 the country passed pioneering legislation which introduced a steadily
rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able
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to legally buy cigarettes. The law was designed to prevent thousands of

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smoking-related deaths and save the health system billions of dollars.
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 3 The legislation, which is thought have inspired a plan in the UK to phase out
smoking for future generations, contained a slew of other measures to make
smoking less affordable and accessible. It included dramatically reducing the
legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products, allowing their sale only through
special tobacco stores, and slashing the number of stores legally allowed to sell
cigarettes from 6,000 to just 600 nationwide.
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4 The laws were due to be implemented from July 2024. But as part of its
coalition agreement with populist New Zealand First, National agreed to repeal
the amendments, including “removing requirements for de-nicotisation,
removing the reduction in retail outlets and the generation ban”.

5 On Saturday, the new finance minister, Nicola Willis, said the measures will be
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axed before March 2024, with the revenue from cigarette sales going towards
the coalition’s tax cuts. National has had to find new ways to fund its tax plan,
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after its coalition partner, New Zealand First, rejected a proposal to let foreign

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6 Treasury’s pre-election fiscal update said that reducing the number of shops
that could sell tobacco products, and the range of restrictions would
significantly reduce revenue to the crown, Willis told Newshub Nation.

7 “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 $1bn there.”

8 Willis said coalition partners Act and New Zealand First were “insistent” on
reversing the restrictions.

9 Prime minister Christopher Luxon said the reversal would prevent a hidden
tobacco market cropping up and stop shops from being targeted for crime.
 10 “Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is
going to be a massive magnet for crime,” Luxon told Radio New Zealand.

11 Luxon said his government would continue to lower smoking rates through
education and other smoking policies.

12 But public health experts have expressed shock at the policy reversal, saying it
could cost up to 5,000 lives a year, and be particularly detrimental to Māori,
who have higher smoking rates.

13 “This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry –
whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” said Prof Lisa Te
Morenga, the chair of non-government industry group Health Coalition
Aotearoa.

14. Te Morenga highlighted recent modelling that showed the regulations would
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save $1.3bn in health system costs over the next 20 years, if fully implemented,
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and would reduce mortality rates by 22% for women, and 9% for men.
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15 “Turning the tide on harmful products that are entrenched in society cannot be
expert done by individuals, or even communities,” Te Morenga said. “It takes good –
and brave – population-level policies.”

16 The leading Māori public health organisation, Hāpai te Hauora, said the
reversal will be “catastrophic for Māori communities”.

17 “This move suggests a disregard for the voices of the communities most affected
by tobacco harm – favouring economic interests,” said chief executive Jason
Alexander.

(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/27/new-zealand-scraps-
world-first-smoking-generation-ban-to-fund-tax-cuts)
Reading Comprehension Exercise
1. Provide a news summary.
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_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. What is the primary driving force for the reversal of New Zealand’s smoking
generation ban law?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. According to Prime Minister Chritopher Luxon, what is likely to happen if the
smoking generation ban law was implemented?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Who benefits from the amendments deriving from the coalition agreement, as
mentioned in the news?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. According to the news, what is the main concern of health officials regarding the
government’s changing of new policy?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Discussion Exercise

1. How did the correspondent write the headline?

2. Discuss the depiction of the news photo.
3. Discuss the news structure.
4. Which paragraphs can be trimmed off?
5. How did the correspondent source the news?
6. Why did the correspondent end the news article with a comment given by Jason
Alexander?
7. Why did this news make headlines?
8. Is this newsworthy?
9. What could be the topic that the correspondent would like to report further based on
this news coverage?
10. What do you make of the idea of a smoking generation ban legislation proposed by
the New Zealand government?
11. In Thailand, what are the measures for smoking restrictions? What are your views on
them?
12. In your opinion, how can smoking rates be effectively reduced?