New Zealand Will Scrap Its Proposed Generational Ban on Smoking

Last year, New Zealand’s former Labour government, helmed by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, made global headlines for passing legislation that would aim to make the country smoke-free by 2025.

Dubbed “Smokefree NZ”, the plan would see cigarette sales banned to anyone born after 2008, starting in 2024.  

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in New Zealand. Modelling had suggested the Smokefree laws could save up to 5,000 lives each year.

National and international experts have responded negatively to the announcement. Speaking to the BBC, public health expert and tobacco researcher at the University of Otago, Professor Richard Edwards, said: "We are appalled and disgusted... this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures." 

Hāpai Te Hauora, a national Māori health organisation, called it an "unconscionable blow to the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders".

National, ACT and NZ First's new coalition government, set to lead the country as of last week, announced on Monday it had decided to scrap the laws before March.

While the removal of Smokefree NZ has been announced, the policy needs to be actively repealed through parliament. The Coalition government has the majority of parliament seats.

The National party, which won 38% of the vote in the recent election, had not discussed the Smokefree laws during election campaigning - leading many lawmakers and civilians to believe it would be unaffected by the change in government. 

The New coalition government says it intends to scrap the smoking ban in order to fund tax cuts promised by the National Party. 

The National Party’s tax-cut plan, a major election promise, sought to introduce a foreign buyers’ tax it hoped would help pay for promised tax cuts for middle and higher-income earners. 

Incoming Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the coalition has led to National looking elsewhere to fund their tax cuts. 

"The effect of drastically reducing the number of shops that could sell tobacco products, de-nicotising those products and introducing a range of restrictions would significantly reduce revenue to the Crown,” said Willis.  

However, public health modelling conducted in 2022 had shown the Smokefree policy would have saved New Zealand's health system about NZ$1.3 billion over the next 20 years.

Prime Minister and National Party leader, Christopher Luxon, said the reversal of the Smokefree NZ legislation will prevent crime in Aotearoa.

Luxon said the decision would prevent an underground tobacco market in the country. 

“Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime,” he told Radio New Zealand.

Rachel Barker is a writer / producer at VICE NZ in Aotearoa. You can find her @rachellydiab on IG and Letterboxd and see her film criticism on Youtube.