Turia Tariana: Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Turia Tariana: Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 July 2011. Volume:674;Page:20122. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I move  
That the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. This Parliament can be proud of the culture of change that we are advancing through the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill. New Zealand has made rapid progress in reducing smoking rates and this bill is another step in that journey. 
During the course of debate on this bill we have heard mention of the brave cause champions and advocates who have led the change in tobacco control. First and foremost I pay tribute to the many groups and individuals such as Aukati Kai Paipa; Te Hotu Manawa Maori; Action on Smoking and Health— 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I know what the member is going to say. We have a Minister speaking and it is very difficult to hear with all of the discussions going on. I ask members leaving the Chamber to do so and to have their discussions in the lobbies. 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: I pay tribute to the Smokefree Coalition Te Ohu Auahi Kore; Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa; the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation; the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand; the Quit Group; the Centre for Tobacco Control Research; Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa the Maori Medical Practitioners Association; the department of public health at the University of Otago; End Smoking NZ; the Public Health Association of New Zealand; the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners; Whakauae Research Services; and many other individuals and organisations. If I have missed anyone out by naming but a few I apologise to you today. 
But it is vitally important that today’s achievement is also recognised as a milestone that has resulted from the efforts of so many people dedicated to the cause of eliminating tobacco from Aotearoa. In this House there are also advocates and activists who have taken up the cause of tobacco reform. The gestation of the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill has involved many key players and history makers. They include the Rt Hon Helen Clark Tukoroirangi Morgan Judy Keall and Stevie Chadwick and over this last year it has been ably assisted by the commitment of Dr Paul Hutchison as chair of the Health Committee. 
The broader context of tobacco reform has of course received heightened awareness through the impact of the inquiry into the tobacco industry pioneered by the Maori Affairs Committee and I record my tribute today to the leadership of Hone Harawira Tau Henare as the chair and in fact all of the members of that committee who have taken up the call to break the cycle of smoking uptake. 
I sincerely appreciate the leadership of the Prime Minister and the support of the Minister of Health Tony Ryall in enabling this legislation to be passed during the course of this Parliament and for being willing to step up to the challenge to ensure that future generations of New Zealand will be protected from exposure to tobacco products and will enjoy smoke-free lives. 
The progress we have achieved on this Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2010 has been so much easier because of the support across the House. Anyone who listened during the Committee stage of the bill would have heard that the impact of the 150 submissions received by the Health Committee underscored the need to legislate to achieve the vision of a tobacco-free Aotearoa by 2025. But they would also have seen the evidence of the activists’ catchcry that the personal is political. How could it be any different? Almost every single one of us in this Chamber knows the reality that more than one in five New Zealanders smoke tobacco regularly. Many of us know the devastating consequences of tobacco smoking as a leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand and we know in our lived experiences that Maori and Pasifika people bear a disproportionate burden of tobacco addiction. 
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners outlined the impact of smoking on the quality of life through conditions such as lung cancer heart disease stroke emphysema chronic bronchitis and cancer of the mouth breast bladder throat stomach colon and on and on. One of the most poignant submissions made during the course of this bill was from Student ASH—a group of medical students at the University of Auckland—and I want to quote from their submission. “Through the course of our training we see the tragic and preventable harm which smoking causes repeated over and over again in the patients we get to know. It is terrible to see patients who are in hospital as a result of their lifelong addiction to cigarettes leave their bed and go outside to smoke. Many patients we meet even in the end stages of their lives can not break the very addiction which is killing them.” So today I applaud the House for having the courage to continue to work together to address smoking harm. 
I am particularly mindful of the korero that was shared last night by Louisa Wall reminding us to keep the needs of our babies uppermost in placing tobacco retail displays out of sight and out of mind. 
This bill is driven by the need to reduce tobacco uptake particularly amongst young people and to help smokers to quit. It does this by prohibiting retail displays of tobacco products increasing controls on tobacco and facilitating the enforcement of tobacco controls. In introducing this legislation I was motivated by the knowledge that children and adolescents are particularly susceptible to the lure of the images adorning tobacco displays such as colouring and the graphics used on cigarette packages. In New Zealand the average age that 15 to 19-year-olds have their first cigarette is 13.3 years of age. We also know that half of the people under 18 who smoke have tried to quit and two-thirds of them regret ever starting. A Cancer Society survey that was run in 2008 revealed that 45 percent of New Zealanders answering that poll agreed that tobacco displays in retail areas made quitting harder. This legislation makes a cornerstone intervention in the cycle of see try and buy. The amendment bill aims to remove tobacco displays from outlets and also includes harsher penalties. 
This bill will make the marketing of tobacco products a much more difficult proposition for the tobacco industry. The industry will no longer be able to display tobacco products at the local dairy or include tobacco-related words in their shop signage. These measures will also aid those trying to quit by removing some of the temptation to make impulse purchases. As a result of this legislation we will see an end to the type of covert sponsorship arrangements such as the exclusive supply arrangements at events like outdoor music festivals. The bill has increased the penalties for selling tobacco products to children and young people—from $2000 to $5000 for an individual and up to $10000 for a business. It also enables these offences to be dealt with by infringement notices rather than by costly and time-consuming prosecutions through the courts. 
I believe that this legislation represents an honourable attempt by the Government to support the concerted efforts in homes and workplaces throughout our land to instil pride in ourselves in becoming tobacco-free. I make a special mention of the officials who have aided the select committee process and advised and guided me every step of the way. This legislation is also a result of their expertise their hard work and their professionalism. I congratulate the advisers right across the Ministry of Health but particularly the tobacco team who have provided me with confidence that we are making the difference we need. Ultimately we have adopted a position where the public health arguments for tobacco control outweigh the tobacco company interests. 
Our retail display legislation will stop tobacco products and brand marketing in just about every dairy supermarket and petrol station in the land. Plain packaging goes with the next step and it will put an end to the vicarious marketing of tobacco in other settings like the kitchen table in a smoker’s house. Our next step therefore is to introduce comprehensive plain packaging legislation to seriously regulate and control this product in a way that is commensurate with the devastating harm it continues to cause. 
I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported this legislation for the decision they have made to create a stronger and healthier future for all New Zealanders. I commend this bill to the House.