Hipkins ChrisRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition): As a four-year-old I recall sitting on my grandmother's armchair while I took a puff on her cigarette. I didn't much like it but the thing that I liked even less was the look of horror on the face of my parents that my grandmother would have allowed me to do that. But the thing is my grandmother at that point didn't know better because the overwhelming evidence that now exists didn't exist 40-odd years ago. My parents were more aware of the risk of smoking but my grandparents were not. So that was their excuse.My question to the members opposite is simple: what's your excuse because the evidence is now overwhelmingly clear—12 people a day in New Zealand die from smoking-related illness and this Government wants to liberalise the sale of tobacco. Where is your moral compass? What is it that has happened between pre-election and post-election that has forced you to completely abandon the platform that you campaigned on? Why is it that you now believe that liberalising the sale of cigarettes is an appropriate way to raise half a billion dollars in revenue every year so that you can fund tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest New Zealanders?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): Can I interrupt the member and remind the member not to bring the Speaker into this.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I'm not Madam Speaker. In fact I made it very clear that these were questions to the members opposite but thank you for doing the Government's bidding by interrupting my flow.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): The member will stop.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: This is a Government that has no moral compass—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): The member will stop.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: —whatsoever—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): Excuse me. Do not bring the Speaker into your debate—Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I didn't.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): —and do not disrespect the Chair.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I didn't.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): I will ask the member to withdraw and apologise.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Do not disrespect me by interrupting me with a point that is not relevant.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): The member will resume his seat. Your debate is now interrupted and I will give you the opportunity to stand withdraw and apologise for your aspersion on the Chair and then you can resume your debate.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I withdraw and apologise. This is a Government that has absolutely no moral compass whatsoever—quite content to continue to promote and support an industry that literally kills its consumers. This is a Government that thinks that more people smoking for longer and smoking more is an acceptable way to fund tax cuts. This is a Government that has turned a blind eye to the fact that this bill will cost New Zealanders the New Zealand health system $5 billion. They're willing to pay that price in order to fund the tax cuts that are simply not affordable.Who will be disproportionately affected by this legislation? We know it will be young New Zealanders it will be lower-income New Zealanders and will be Māori and Pacific New Zealanders. This is overwhelmingly clear from the evidence.Doesn't it say everything about this Government that after disestablishing a programme that was specifically designed to improve Māori health outcomes the first thing they do is bring a bill into this House that will make Māori health outcomes worse? They know it will because the evidence is there and it is clear—it is clear. The members opposite might be shaking their head about the fact that I'm angry about this. My question again to them is: why the hell aren't you? Why the hell are you not angry about that to the members opposite? This is a bill that will kill people; it is a bill that will increase smoking in New Zealand. The hollow words that we just got from the Minister sponsoring the bill are nothing more than regurgitated talking points from the tobacco lobby. We have heard it all before from the tobacco lobby and the Minister promoting this bill simply stood up and read it out on their behalf. But it goes worse than that because we know that the instructions she gave to the officials that prepared this bill probably came from the tobacco lobby as well. This is a Government that is firmly in the pocket of the tobacco industry and the Minister presenting this bill is simply doing their bidding bringing a bill before the House that will do harm to New Zealand. What happened to notion of the common good the public good being the guiding force behind the decisions that we take in this House? Members opposite might not have agreed with everything to do with Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 although that's not the position that they had before the election when they were supporting that but there are other changes they could have made. Why not raise the age to 25 as the Ministry of Health offered as a compromise? Why? Because that wouldn't meet the needs of the tobacco lobby who are so firmly behind the actions of this Government. This is a morally reprehensible piece of legislation. It is a stain on this Parliament. Twelve people a day die from smoking-related illness in New Zealand. Let's put that into context: the equivalent number of all of the members of Parliament in this House die every 10 days from smoking-related illness in New Zealand. This is a stain on this Parliament that we are passing legislation to liberalise the tobacco industry in New Zealand. We should be driving forward for Smokefree Aotearoa 2025. When the Government get advice to say that these changes will push that out to 2061 it says everything that they choose to ignore that and stick to their tobacco lobby talking points. It is a disgrace on this Government.