Lotu-Iiga SamHon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Associate Minister of Health): I take great pleasure in coming to this Committee stage to talk about this standardised packaging legislation. I thank the member Annette King for her contribution. It was good right up until the 7-minute mark when she decided to have a go at members opposite about past statements because the focus is on the health of New Zealanders; it is not about scoring political points across this House. It is not about making accusations about what members opposite did in their past lives. This is about the 4500 to 5000 people who die prematurely every year because of tobacco smoke—the 4500 to 5000 people who die prematurely. And so this bill contains measures—regulation-making powers—to control aspects of the design of the physical appearance of cigarettes. And we know from the Australian legislation—the Australian experience since 2012—that these things work.So what does it do? The member Annette King spoke quite eloquently about the history of the Labour Party. She spoke quite eloquently about Tariana Turia and I acknowledge her because it is her driving force that has brought this legislation alongside the Government. This bill actually removes company colours; it removes logos and other marketing ploys that are designed to attract people to smoke. Essentially they are almost designed to attract people to kill themselves. And if you recall the many years ago when there were advertisements on TV and there were logos and advertisements at sporting events that had this notion of attracting people to tobacco.Hon Annette King: A long time ago.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: That is a long time ago and it made it look attractive. So this is just another step—another step in the long journey of bringing about change that will change the culture around smoking in this country.This bill does impose controls on marketing—on advertising—and I know that some of the more liberal free-marketeers out there will say that this is an impingement on intellectual property rights and freedoms and liberties. But we have got to remember what is at the heart of this bill and it is the health of all New Zealanders. I take the member's point around standardised packaging; I have accepted that that is the more appropriate term to use in this space. But it is intended to restrict the ability of the tobacco industry to promote and advertise these products and that is a good thing because I believe that will lead to more people's lives being saved to people living longer and to people being able to contribute to their communities to live with their families and just to live better lives overall.So what is the experience in Australia? Well in Australia the Australian Government's official post-implementation review has found that it has made a sizable addition to contributing to lowering the smoking prevalence rates. It says that about 25 percent of the decline over the last 4 years can be attributed to standardised packaging. That is a good thing. What it shows is that it has increased the number of intentions to quit as well as recorded quit attempts in Australia. Alongside all the other smoking cessation tools and products that help people get off tobacco it has shown that it has in fact saved lives in Australia.I think the other point to mention here is that other jurisdictions around the world have taken on standardised packaging: Ireland and the UK in May earlier this year France has passed legislation and I hear that Canada—and these are some of our closest allies if you like. They are jurisdictions that have very similar laws to New Zealand and similar histories and backgrounds. They have taken on standardised packaging legislation. Canada also intends to do it and I am proud of the fact that New Zealand is progressing this legislation through the House this year.The other point that will be made and may be made is around the illicit trade of tobacco. I see Barbara Stewart there. She is sort of champing at the bit to make points on behalf of the tobacco industry. What it is about is that there is no evidence—Hon Annette King: Talking about political point-scoring.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: No I do it with a smile. I do it with a smile; you do it with a nasty streak. [Interruption] No no Barbara and I are really good mates but there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that any illegal sales of tobacco will increase. There is no evidence. But we know that the police will keep a watching brief on these developments as they do with increases in tax and various other things that impact on the sale of tobacco.In terms of the timing for this legislation—and I know there will be a couple of Supplementary Order Papers put forward by the New Zealand First Party—the Government has not yet set a date for standardised packaging. It needs to go through this House of course. It also needs to go through the regulation-making period. But just know that there will be ample time not just for the industry but also for the public to adjust to these laws and the legislation is pretty explicit. There is a 12-week wash-through period and that period is actually greater than the Australian period so—Barbara Stewart: It didn't work in Australia.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: No she shakes her head but anyway I just want to say that this legislation is welcomed. It is welcomed by our Government. It is clearly welcomed by Opposition parties and we welcome their support on this. But coming back to the heart of the matter we know that smoking is highly addictive. We know that all smokers take it up at quite a young age and that this piece of legislation is just another tool in the tool box around increasing taxes—in the tool box that we will be looking at in consultation around e-cigarettes and whether they will have an impact on smoking rates. It is also part of the tool box around the point of display that this Government has put in place alongside support from other parties.We know that a high proportion of those smokers take it up because of its attractiveness. We know that pack design—product presentation—which is used to enhance the appeal of these products must be attacked at source. That is why standardised packaging makes sense intuitively and it makes sense in terms of the mechanics of it—the aesthetics of it—and that is why standardised packaging is important in order to reach our 2025 goal of a smoke-free New Zealand. Standardised packaging also supports New Zealand's international obligations which the member opposite Annette King talked about: our commitments under the World Health Organization framework for the convention on tobacco control.We are proud to be a part of that convention. We support it and we support the goals around it combined with other measures particularly those measures that our Government is putting in place to focus on high-needs populations. We know that Māori rates are well over 30 percent and Pacific rates are in the mid-20s. We know pregnant women have rates that are ridiculous. So we support that convention and that is why there has been a realignment of the services towards those high-needs groups in order to bring down the rates for smoking.This is another step in the right direction. It is another step in the comprehensive programme that this Government has around tobacco control. I welcome the support across this Committee and I look forward to the questions that may come from members opposite. Thank you.