Verrall AyeshaSMOKEFREE ENVIRONMENTS AND REGULATED PRODUCTS (SMOKED TOBACCO) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): I present a legislative statement on the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I move That the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I want to start this speech not in the words of my own but in the words of 12-year-old Pōtatau who submitted to the Health Committee's hearing in Tāmaki-maka-rau and this is what he said. He said Why do you the Government support businesses that sell tobacco that kills Māori that makes us very sick? That is wrong. You can make it right and make businesses stop selling tobacco."My message to Pōtatau is this: you're right. There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it. I can tell you that we will end this in future as we pass this legislation.This bill will create generational change and it will leave a legacy of better health for our youth. It will allow New Zealanders to enjoy more quality years with their whānau and friends. They will have healthier pregnancies. Babies will be born at term and stay in their mother's arms rather than be snatched away to neonatal intensive care. It will reduce hospitalisations and reduce the burden of smoking-related illness. It will save thousands of lives and billions for the future health system.Sadly most people have a story about someone they know who has been harmed by tobacco and that is reflected in the many stories submitted to the Health Committee. One submitter spoke of being a teenager and witnessing smoking-related illness and death in their whānau. A nurse described her distress at caring for people with chronic lung disease. Another submitter said "A lot of my whānau and very close friends have passed away through cancer and because of smoking. Eighty percent of the people in our urupa died of cancer." And one who saw "the three most important people to me the pillars of my whanaunga the matriarchs of our whānau all died of lung cancer smoking health issues. I cared for most of them in their dying days and it was hard to see hard to witness". So she wants a better future for her daughter.These stories ring true to me because they are the sort of stories that I heard day in and day out as a doctor in our health system. I met people coming back into the emergency department week after week as a result of their chronic lung conditions; struggling for breath knowing that they couldn't give up smoking even while they knew that it was killing them. I met people whose gangrene I tried to treat but when I couldn't they had to go to a surgeon for amputations. I sat with people while I told them about their lung cancer diagnosis and then again later as they died.Tobacco causes so much harm for our community. By voting for this bill we are saying we're not prepared to let our people be sacrificed for vested interests like the tobacco industry. We're saying no to the tobacco industry loading up their product with nicotine to keep people hooked. We're getting tobacco out of communities particularly low-income communities where retail outlets cluster.This legislation accelerates our progress towards a smoke-free future and it is a future that is close within reach; our smoking rate is 8 percent. We know that Pākehā New Zealanders are well on the way to reaching that target of 5 percent smoking but we have to do the measures in this bill to create an equitable outcome to make sure that Māori and Pasifika also reach that goal and share in that better future with us.While thinking about the future it is also important to reflect on how we have come to this point and how we are able to make this decision today. Over 30 years Aotearoa has made history as one of the first countries to take bold action to save its people from the harms of tobacco. I want to acknowledge the work of Helen Clark who was health Minister at the time and brought in the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990. It was a historic measure. Today we can celebrate another historic moment again with the passing of this legislation.It has been 12 years since the Māori Affairs Committee inquiry presented its recommendations for the Government. In fact it was that inquiry that set a target of the smoke-free goal that was adopted by the Government and it's that goal that is a foundation of this bill.We are 70 years now from when cigarettes were first identified as one of the leading causes of cancer. Aotearoa New Zealand today passing this legislation is saying that we are going to stop the harm that tobacco causes.I want to note that smoke-free has previously attracted bipartisan support in this House. Initially the National Party was supporting this bill. Well what has changed? Are there new political opportunities open to the National Party and are they prepared to let thousands of New Zealanders die to pursue those opportunities? Dr Reti I know you know better; you have the opportunity to put yourself and your party on the right side of history and I say to you—I say to you again—vote for this bill or renounce your oath.One of the key outcomes of this bill is to reduce the disparities that continue to be so keenly experienced because of the deadly stubborn habit that is smoked tobacco. Let's be clear: the modelling shows that for Māori women the life expectancy gap between them and Pākehā will be reduced by a quarter; what other vote will you take in your life that could make such an important difference to the health of Māori? I find it very hard to think of one.This is a singular issue and parties who believe in caring for the health of their people need to vote for this bill. By doing so we will reach a vision that one submitter described as "better health cleaner air for our whānau to live and work and to have recreation in a smoke-free environment. We will break the cycle of harm caused by tobacco."I want to acknowledge colleagues in the House. I want to express my gratitude to Tangi Utikere and the members of the Health Committee whose deliberations improved the shape of this bill—and yes I include my colleague from the Green Party Chlöe Swarbrick in that gratitude.I want to also thank the officials from the Ministry of Health led by Sally Stewart who gave excellent advice on this topic; the Parliamentary Counsel Office; submitters as well. I want to thank the many advocates and researchers and others in the tobacco control sector who have kept this issue going even when they didn't find support in Government. Their passion their determination and their collective efforts have brought us to this day after so many petitions submissions and research.I want to thank the health workers and community health promotion experts at the grassroots level. They have stood alongside smokers and communities through thick and thin when they received support from Government and also when they didn't helping people to make the change to be smoke-free. I can't name them all but the ones that I have recently had engagement with like The Hashtags of Wainuiomata campaigning for smoke-free cars; Kāute Pasifika in Hamilton de-normalising smoking; Hāpai te Hauora with their health promotion; the Cancer Society particularly in South Canterbury where they're lobbying councils for more smoke-free environments; the work done by the Northland community to address retail outlets in their community—I say to those community activists and health promoters that our work is not done. We need to continue to support our people towards our smoke-free goal as they have done for years—but also after the passage of this bill.Finally I wanted to share a plea from one submitter who said "A lot of my family members have passed away from tobacco. So if you really want your family members to be here with you today and tomorrow make sure you support this bill." I can't think of a better sentiment to take into the Christmas holidays knowing that we're voting for a bill that will keep New Zealanders alive for longer which will make more families have more time together. It is with great pleasure that I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The question is that the motion be agreed to."