2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes and especially our actions to fix Health New Zealand after a botched merger from the previous Government. Kiwis deserve better results in health which is exactly what we're focused on delivering. We're bringing back targets. We're making a significant investment in front-line services with a record $16.7 billion in this year's Budget but that's not enough. Health New Zealand's overly centralised operating model and poor financial controls have plagued the organisation since its creation by the previous Government. We're taking decisive action to fix those problems by installing commissioners and giving them a mandate to deliver New Zealanders the healthcare that they deserve.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Why did Cabinet approve halving the excise on heated tobacco products?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What we're interested in is making sure we've got practical tools that actually lower smoking rates and that is one of those things. Heated tobacco products—if we can halve excise tax we'll do a 12-month trial see how it goes.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Why didn't the Government announce its decision to halve excise on heated tobacco products?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I think it has been announced and I think you obviously know about it by asking the question.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Why does the Government continue to act in such a secretive manner regarding cigarettes and tobacco particularly after the Minister responsible was ordered by the Ombudsman to apologise for keeping tobacco and vaping policies secret?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I think it's no secret that we are determined to deliver on Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goals. We want to see lower rates of smoking across New Zealand. That's why we're very proud to see smoking go from 8.6 percent to 6.8 percent in the last 12 months and we're going to continue that march.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Prime Minister: did the Government increase the excise tax on tobacco in December of last year and who missed it?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well we absolutely did because we want to encourage people to move away from smoking take up vaping try heated tobacco products to lower smoking rates.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Has Cabinet agreed in principle—SPEAKER: Just hang on. Just wait for a minute. OK.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Has Cabinet agreed in principle to allow the sale of smokeless tobacco products such as snus and nicotine pouches; if so why and has that been announced?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What we're interested in is trying all practical tools that get people away from smoking. Heated tobacco products—we're open for people trying those products. If that gets them away from smoking that's a good thing.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Did the Ministry of Health advise the Government that heated tobacco products would likely compound existing concerns about youth uptake in addition to nicotine products and that addiction rates for snus can be higher than for smoked tobacco products and that snus can increase the risk of certain types of cancer?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What I'd just say to the member is we are determined to lower smoking rates across this country and what we have done is made sure that by introducing vaping as happened under the previous Government we've seen a lot of people move away from smoking into vaping. We're making practical other alternative tools like heated tobacco products available at a lower excise rate. We're going to try it—do a 12-month trial and see how it goes.SPEAKER: Just before we do I just want to say to the Government backbench do not speak or make noises while a question is being asked.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. I didn't ask what the Government was trying to achieve; I asked whether the Ministry of Health had advised the Government that basically it could increase the uptake of tobacco increase addiction to tobacco and increase cancer. The Prime Minister hasn't addressed that.SPEAKER: Well I actually didn't hear his answer because of some of the noise coming from the left of the House but I'll ask the Prime Minister if he wants to add a bit to that answer he did give.Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well I'll just say to the member we receive a lot of advice from a lot of officials but what we're very determined on is the outcomes and the results which is lower smoking rates.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Prime Minister: did Action on Smoking and Health the four-decade - old campaigners against tobacco smoking support these measures thereby enabling us to be able to claim at the end of this year Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 but in 2024"?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well I think that would be absolutely fantastic if we achieve that.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Which is a greater priority for the Government in its decision making around tobacco: advice from the Ministry of Health and health experts that the Government's approach would increase addiction particularly amongst young New Zealanders and increase the risk of certain types of cancer; or the lobbying of the tobacco industry?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: What I'd say to that member as I've said is we are determined to deliver on an outcome of less daily smokers in New Zealand. We're doing that by encouraging vaping. We're doing that by introducing and supporting heated tobacco products to make sure that actually we can lower smoking rates. We've got a 12-month trial on it. We'll review it and see how it goes but we're going to do everything to get an outcome."