Goodhew Jo: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
Goodhew Jo: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10591] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Rangitata) 
: 
 I rise to speak in the second reading of the Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill. I do so knowing that 4 years ago almost to this day our family had a call from Perth to say that my father-in-law was going to die quite quickly of lung cancer. Our reaction was dismay but not disbelief. You see he was a very heavy smoker with that horrible distinctive cough which when we stayed with him woke us up each morning and made me feel quite sick. We always wondered whether it would be just a matter of time. He was 63 years old when he died—far far too young. 
I am a former nurse and yes nurses also fall into a group with high rates of smoking. We heard the member Kevin Hague speak of various groups and nurses are also amongst those. I have nursed many people whose health had been disastrously affected by smoking. Watching that happen does not stop nurses from smoking. But nursing a family member as I had the privilege of doing in his last days of life only 9 months after we heard of his illness left a lasting impression on me. It left me with a resolve to listen carefully and seek ways to change the incidence of smoking and reduce the number of new smokers. 
I pause now to congratulate the Hon Tariana Turia because I feel sure that these measures will save lives. Not every Minister can steward a bill through the House knowing that that is likely to be the case. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths so I am proud to be standing here tonight in the knowledge that some people are less likely to start smoking because of these planned changes in excise. 
I will briefly comment on the regulatory impact statement which makes a couple of pertinent points in relation to the decision to bring this bill to pass. Tax on the two types of tobacco—loose tobacco and cigarettes—was last equalised in 1995 so we are looking at quite a passage of time since then. In addition the decline in tobacco consumption has stalled and smoking prevalence is declining but slowly. The current tobacco control programme of regulation health education cessation and taxation is holding rates steady but is not achieving the rate of decline necessary for sustainable health gains and reductions in tobacco-related costs to society and the economy. This is what we see and this is the reason we must take this action here tonight. 
This morning a newsletter arrived in my inbox. It was the  
Tobacco Control Update 
. I studied the newsletter more closely later in the day knowing what was ahead of us tonight and it pointed out—of course not knowing what was happening tonight—that the Budget would provide an opportunity for the Government to put up tobacco excise tax. There have been many calls for that to happen and I feel sure that those who read and subscribe to that newsletter will be smiling this evening. There were calls from both the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and the Public Health Association of New Zealand printed in that newsletter. 
Also buried in the newsletter was a link to some research that had been carried out in Thailand by the Department of Health Education and Behavioural Sciences. It looked at 504 regular smokers and looked at what changes in their behaviour would happen if there was a tobacco tax increase. The results were statistically quite significant with 9.7 percent of the smokers quitting and a 48 percent reduction in the numbers of cigarettes smoked per day by other members of that group. The researchers concluded unsurprisingly that a tax increase was beneficial for Government revenue—I will get to that issue a little later—and that it also affected the behaviour of daily smokers. They also said that the tax had to go up continually and that sufficient cessation services had to be provided to respond to people wanting to quit smoking. In other words those who suddenly “got it” needed some help. 
We have heard some debate in this House that if we truly believe in reducing the amount of health-related harm from smoking we should as the Hon Sir Roger Douglas suggested put the price up by 600 percent. He expressed concern that we were seeking to control the personal habits of citizens when their personal responsibility should prevail. I can understand the genesis of that argument but it is not as black and white as that as anyone who has tried to quit smoking understands. When a person decides to make that life-changing move to stop smoking all of the ducks need to be in a row all of the planets need to be in alignment and all of the excuses need to be philosophically exhausted. This not insignificant change in the excise might be the final duck the last planet in the line and it might also exhaust that last excuse. I certainly hope it is that for many smokers. 
For many young people I hope they look at the costs associated with smoking and decide not to start. I hope they plan instead a holiday the purchase of a car putting money away for a house or perhaps paying off their mortgage. I hope they recognise that they should enhance their future rather than seriously shorten it. But when the decision time arrives and when that smoker’s mind is open—the ducks are in a row the planets are in alignment or whatever—the challenge for us is to support that person to quit. 
I am really proud that since the National Government came into power there has been an enormous increase in the subsidisation of nicotine replacement and the use of the same. It is all very well to do that— 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: It’s doubled. 
JO GOODHEW 
: As the Minister of Health said it has gone up from $463000 being spent back in March 2008 to more than $1 million being spent in the month of March 2010. That is pretty stunning; it is quite a huge amount. But it is not just about subsidising; we have to make sure that people use the treatment. Since September 2009 nicotine-replacement therapy which could be lozenges patches or gum has been available on prescription and the cost is now down to $3 for 2 months’ supply. That is an important part of what we want to achieve here. The Government has committed $57 million to tobacco control and smoking cessation. That is not an insignificant amount of money but it is a small amount compared with the cost to New Zealand society and the taxpayer of tobacco-related harm. Estimates are that it costs $1.9 billion. In fact the revenue from tobacco is nowhere near that. The revenue is $1.1 billion. With these changes that will go up to $1.3 billion but it is still short of the cost. 
All of the members who have spoken in this debate—not all of them but a lot of them—have spoken about the loss of a family or whanau member and that is not about money. That is the loss of a family support member a mother or a father and sometimes a child. It is also the loss of potential. It relates to lung disease heart disease strokes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other cancers. 
This Government has made quit-smoking advice one of its six current health targets for those who are hospitalised and not all district health boards have been doing it well. Even in my own electorate the South Canterbury District Health Board has not been doing well in that area. There has been a marked improvement in the latest figures to come out. It is one of only six targets. In the past we have had a multitude of targets and not enough concentration on a few but this target is particularly important. 
I think these measures will save lives but I repeat other measures must be put in place. I hope the smoke-free ambassadors in my town who regularly come to see me and harangue me about one thing or another are smiling tonight too. I hope they see that this Parliament almost unanimously has a desire and a will on this issue and is taking some action in the House here tonight. We have taken a very important step one I am proud of. Thank you.