Turia Tariana: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
Turia Tariana: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10559] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I move  
That the Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 There are only a few matters before this House on which one could stand with one’s hand on one’s heart and declare that this was a life-and-death debate. The rationale for increasing the tobacco excise is very much in this arena. It is purely and simply about saving lives. 
I come to this bill with many mixed emotions. As an Associate Minister of Health it worries me greatly that about 21 percent of all New Zealanders over the age of 15 years are smokers and that many smokers are younger than that. In basic terms one in five New Zealanders are regular smokers. It is irresponsible to dismiss this as a recreational pastime to minimise the impact of the harm caused by justifying tobacco use as a private pleasure that one should be free to indulge in in the privacy of one’s home and not to acknowledge the addictive nature of this tobacco use. Exposure to smoking in the home and tobacco use itself result in a staggering figure of around 5000 deaths a year. In graphic terms I can put some names to these numbers simply by walking along the gravesides of our family urupa. 
The focus of this legislation tobacco use is the single-largest cause of preventable death and chronic illness in this country. It would be a foolish Government that ignored the economic and social repercussions of this relentless killer yet for too many years it appears that we have been prepared to turn a blind eye to the crisis that afflicts our communities right throughout this land. Actions have been infrequent and erratic. Years have elapsed while we have debated minor changes. In all that time the death toll has kept on rising with New Zealanders dying prematurely from smoking-related illnesses that show no mercy. We cannot stand by and be oblivious to the pain that strikes too many families. These early deaths are completely preventable. The science tells us that on average a smoker loses 15 years of life. 
It is no news to anyone in this House that tobacco is the leading cause of the life-expectancy gap between Maori and non-Maori. It is soul-destroying to know that one in two Maori women smoke. The disproportionate impacts of heavy use of tobacco on Maori are etched into the lives of many w’anau. During the period 2000 to 2004 lung cancer was responsible for over 31 percent of Maori cancer deaths. During that same period cardiovascular disease including heart disease and strokes resulted in Maori death rates that were twice as high as those for non-Maori and deaths due to respiratory disease were three times more frequent in Maori than non-Maori. 
It is impossible in that context to come to this debate with views about the nature of the product per se. Day on day approximately 13 New Zealanders die from smoking. They die from lung cancer. They die from heart disease from strokes from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from emphysema from chronic bronchitis and from cancer of the mouth pharynx and oesophagus. They are dying from a habit that we can do something about so today we are taking this action in order to save lives. 
I was by my mother’s side when we received the diagnosis that her cancer had progressed to such a stage that she might have 6 months to live. My mother had been a heavy smoker for some 40 years but even though we all understood the risk that comes from smoking-related illness there is nothing quite as traumatic as having to sit and watch the life of a loved one slowly drained. My cousins and I were raised by my grandmother. Every single one of those cousins has died from smoking-related illness. I am the only one still alive of those who were raised by my grandmother. This story—my story—is not an isolated individual case. For the sake of our future we must act. 
This bill is part of a coordinated range of measures that target tobacco use as a leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand. Independent research studies have established the impact of price rises on smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption. Raising the price of tobacco is probably the most powerful tool to reduce smoking. International organisations from the World Health Organization to the World Bank recommend that countries use tobacco taxes to increase the price of cigarettes and counter the global smoking epidemic. It is very simple: all smokers who buy tobacco will face price rises. The more that someone smokes the more that he or she will pay and the bigger will be the incentive for him or her to quit. The Government is concerned that cigarette prices have plateaued in recent years and that the reduction in cigarette consumption has also stalled. That is why we are putting up the tobacco excise in three steps of 10 percent over the next 2 years. 
The Government is also concerned that roll-your-own tobacco is increasingly being seen as a cheap alternative. That is why we are putting up the excise on loose tobacco by an additional 14 percent to equalise the excise weight-for-weight with that payable on manufactured cigarettes. Roll-your-owns are no safer than tailor-made cigarettes and may indeed be more harmful because roll-your-own smokers will often inhale deeper than others in order to make the cigarettes go further—or so I am told. 
This issue is of such severity that we must accord it urgency. I personally regret given the circumstances that I have been unable to give other parties sufficient advance notice prior to the introduction of this bill but I feel assured from previous statements made by the parties around this House throughout the years that all of us understand the perilous situation that we face. The stakes are too high. We must act decisively and this bill is an important step on the pathway forward. I commend this bill to the House.