Lees-Galloway Iain: Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Lees-Galloway Iain: Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:674;Page:20089] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 Part 2 of the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill relates to amendments relating to offences regulations and purposes. Of course we have brought in a whole range of new regulations in Part 1 and now we have the offences for breaking those regulations. Clause 12 creates an offence where a person without reasonable excuse allows a tobacco product tobacco package or tobacco carton to be visible in contravention of new section 23A on the display of tobacco products. A person who commits such an offence is liable to a fine not exceeding $10000. 
The Health Committee heard a range of submissions about where submitters thought the fine level should be at. Obviously some people thought it should be very low and others thought it should be extremely high. The select committee went for something that was at the higher end and I think that is an important move to show just how seriously breaches of the tobacco display ban will be taken. The incentive is certainly there for retailers to ensure that they get it right that they make sure they do not breach the ban and that nobody who goes into a store will see any tobacco products on display. I think it would be pretty easy to find out whether someone has breached that ban. The penalties are to say the least quite significant—certainly for a small-business person. I imagine that $10000 would be a very significant penalty for someone who owned a dairy. So that is quite clear. Hopefully nobody will be tempted to breach the ban given that the penalties are so severe. 
Many submitters supported increasing the maximum fine for a sale to someone under the age of 18 from $2000 to $10000. Again that is understandable because there is nothing worse really than a retailer selling tobacco products or cigarettes to someone who is under the age of 18. We know that young people from the age of 9 through to 18 are at their most vulnerable and that is when to be honest most people take up the smoking habit. Many submitters were very very keen that we take a much much stronger stance on people who supply tobacco products to people who are under age. 
Several of the tobacco industry and retailer groupings suggested that it was wrong to focus on increasing penalties when what was required was better retailer education compliance visits and enforcement of the current law. Well that is always the bastion of those who are opposed to regulation. They always say that education is the answer. I agree that retailers do need to be educated about what the new law will say and what the new penalties will be but that education has to go hand in hand with a real incentive to stop retailers from being tempted to breach the new regulations that this bill brings in. Clearly the select committee did not agree with the tobacco industry on much to be fair including the suggestion that there was no need to increase fines or to bring in a large fine for people who break the display ban. 
The Ministry of Health’s advice was to establish two different penalties for sales to under-18s: a fine not exceeding $10000 in the case of a seller who is a body corporate and a fine not exceeding $5000 for a seller who is not a body corporate. The Ministry of Justice advised that it may be more appropriate to have a lower penalty for a person who is not a body corporate. I suppose that is understandable if one is a sole operator; perhaps one does not have the means to address such a large fine. Some comparisons were made. In the Alcohol Reform Bill the penalty for sale of alcohol to a minor by a person who is not a licensee or a manager is a fine not exceeding $2000 and for a licensee or a manager the fine must not exceed $10000. So there is a lower fine for someone who is not the owner of the business but is simply working in the business.