Horomia Parekura: Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Horomia Parekura: Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 26 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5713. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 This Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill is a tax-grab. The Government needs to be commended for sticking with this and coming this far. 
Certainly what is interesting is the regulatory impact statement by Treasury. It is quite fascinating. It says: “It does not assess and compare tobacco excise increases with other revenue savings and expenditure options Ministers have considered in preparing the 2012 Budget.” That clearly tells you that they do not want to measure it or benchmark it against anything. Two other parts are very interesting: “Analysis to inform a decision on tobacco excise increases for Budget 2012 has included: the impact of recent excise increases on Crown revenue and on consumption patterns; likely revenues from options to increase tobacco excise; initial information on likely distributional impacts … The analysis has not included”—has not included—“a range of other issues due to time and resource constraints.” 
I wonder how serious the Government is about this. It has no information here on the “overall economic and fiscal impacts of smoking (eg: health and other welfare effects on smokers their families” and other impacts and so on and so forth and “disability services linked to smoking … impact on the economic welfare” and so on and so forth. We know full well that there are screeds and screeds and summaries of information on the impacts of smoking. So the Government is just clearly trying to offset this take the money and run—$528 million. 
We heard the “Minister of Prisons” today going on about saving $170 million. I am not too sure how you comprehend not expending money on people’s welfare and trying to avoid smoking and going and building new prisons. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Rubbish! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is more than rubbish. It is this new edict of the right expecting that they can take money off the working class and just do what they like with it. 
Tobacco in this country was a tool of the colonisers—that is what it was—and it has continued to be a tool of the colonisers of the Government. It seriously was—it was. I say to this person over here Andrew Williams who was talking about the Asians that it is well known and scripted if you are enough of an international scholar and understand what happens to indigenous peoples that when people in a settler society are being oppressed or dominated by the majority they do three things: they drink beer they go for sugar and they smoke. That is the poor man’s correction the working class’s correction. The big-time colonisers grew bigger cigars and they smoked cigars because it was a pecking order thing. And I can assure you that in a lot of these modern countries that are coming into their own that is the first thing they do—they chase sugar they smoke and they drink beer—because it is the poor man’s way to say that they are going up in society. And we would be damned by a Government that does not recognise that and wants to stop you know any brave movers. 
I want to commend the great doctor over there Dr Hutchison because he stuck with us when we knocked the smoking out of those restaurants and bars when Simon Bridges wanted to carry on smoking in restaurants in Tauranga. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Oh! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Yes you did. I remember you saying that. And does it matter now? It is a great thing. So why do we not get serious about Part 1 and ensure that it is knocked right out. We should be working towards that. 
You know Quitline and Auahi Kore cannot even pay their phone bills and you are going to flog the money off them—$528 million. Auahi Kore—there are a lot of volunteers who run around in those cars. They tell me that it takes 4 weeks to disconnect a heavy smoker and for them to even start to practise and be honest about not smoking—4 weeks. It takes a lot of money. But you take it from me sonny—that is what happens. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Oh sorry Mr Chair. Kia ora Mr Chair. Dear sir be assured that that is what people do when they come out from the boondocks: they chase beer they eat sugar and they smoke cigarettes—and we should be aware of it. There are more than enough Maori and Pasifika people who have respiratory diseases and who have smoked themselves to death and it will continue—it will continue. The worst situation in relation to this bill is that there is not any money being put back in to help correct it and to help support the correction. The doctor knows that. That is why he is chewing on his glasses.