Ardern Shane: Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Shane: Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 11 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15807. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country): It is a pleasure to rise in support of the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill. I have listened to a number of learned speakers I would have to say including former health Ministers the former Labour Minister of Health herself and the chair of the Health Committee who is himself a medical doctor and someone who has had a passion for this issue over a long period of time.I just thought I would share in the few moments that I am going to take a call for some personal experience in the fact that both my parents were smokers. My father was a returned serviceman and of course he was encouraged by the State in fact to take up smoking as a way of settling nerves while he was away from late 1939 to early 1945 in the Second World War. So he was absolutely addicted to tobacco to the day he died and I have no doubt that it aided in the shortening of his life along with a lot of other war-related issues. So I personally have always felt that reduction in the use of tobacco and smoking in particular was in the best interests of New Zealand health.I just want to add that since National has come into power it is something that this Government has been very very seriously focused on. I have listened to some of the comments wondering why we are not getting on with it a bit quicker and why we are not doing it a bit faster but I just need to share with you some of the statistics that have come out of the last round of statistics. Between 2006 and 2013 the number of regular smokers dropped from 20.69 percent to 15.11 percent. That is a sharper reduction you could argue than what we have seen historically. In Māori in particular there was a drop from 42.2 percent in 2006 to 32.7 percent in 2013. So progress is being made. I have heard the argument put forward tonight that it is not enough and it should be happening quicker. Well you could argue that on a number of things. I have not heard the Greens argue for example that riding bicycles is dangerous because people get killed on them and that you would be better to drive a big car because it would be safer. So there are a lot of silly arguments you could put up. You could argue against the risk involved in certain activities but at the end of the day we need to see progress in this area and we clearly are seeing progress in this area.I would also like to point out that over $50 million has been made available in programmes by this Government to aid people with all sorts of better quit programmes if you like and medical support for that with various nicotine replacement drugs and other such. Overwhelmingly I think that it is in the best interests of New Zealanders’ health and it is in the best interests particularly of our indigenous Māori and also Pacific Island people’s health. On that note I want to congratulate the Māori Affairs Committee on the work and the report that it did because it was quite a brave step for the Hon Tau Henare and that committee to take in their recommendations. I suspect that over the next few years a lot of those recommendations will be implemented. Certainly I acknowledge the work that went on in various international forums around what needed to be done and what is being done in regard to smoking cessation. Thank you.