Worth Richard: Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill — Procedure Referral to Health Committee Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Worth Richard: Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill — Procedure Referral to Health Committee Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:610;Page:7961] 
RICHARD WORTH (NZ National—Epsom) 
: 
 It is my privilege to speak in support of an amendment that is recorded in Supplementary Order Paper 95. I am absolutely delighted that the chairman of the Health Committee is in the chair at the Table at the moment because I earnestly solicit the support of herself and her colleagues for the merit of this amendment. It relates to cigar bars and I think it is an exciting amendment in the context of the raft of amendments that have come before the Committee in the course of this process. I think Supplementary Order Paper 117 in the name of the Hon Peter Dunne is probably the best amendment before the Committee tonight but I would also say that Supplementary Order Paper 95 dealing with cigar bars also has undoubted pure and intrinsic merit in itself. 
I would like if I may for a moment to deal with that amendment which is concerned with altering the definitions in clause 2. It proposes that there be inserted the definition of “cigar bar” which means licensed premises at which cigars and tobacco-related smoking products are sold and in a particular calendar year that has been nominated 31 December 2002 that there was generated from that sale 10 percent or more of its total annual gross annual income from the on-site sale of tobacco products and the rental of on-site humidors not including any sales from vending machines and which continue to sell such products. 
So it is not a warrant that cigar bars may be set up in the future. But it seeks to preserve what are speciality premises with I would say a designed ambience. If we are concerned to protect property rights which I believe we should be then I would say that the small number of cigar bars that exist throughout New Zealand should have a continued future. How could it be argued that this legislation would be imperilled by an exception as minor as that? 
So I would like for a moment if I might to talk about cigar bars. There are four cigar bars in New Zealand. It is very interesting that in New York cigar bars were excluded from the draconian impacts of very similar legislation to this. The other cigar bars in New Zealand apart from the Cuba Cigar Bar are Casa del Oro situated in Auckland where ex-President Clinton was a favoured customer; Stogies Cigar Bar in Christchurch; and the Cigar Bar in Queenstown. I would like at this point if I might to read what the employees of one of those cigar bars who signed en masse andwithout coercion said: “We are the bartenders at Cuba Cigar Bar in Parnell Auckland. We understand there is a proposal before you to completely ban smoking in all bars. We have bar managers’ certificates. We have been employed at this establishment for about 2 years. We’re seriously worried about our future as a ban on smoking in this bar will affect its patronage drastically. We know this because we’ve discussed the situation over the last month or so with many of our customers of which about 80 percent smoke cigars and/or cigarettes. We don’t believe statements we have read that there will be little or no effect upon bar patronage especially in an establishment such as the one we’re very happily working in. We’ve heard that in New York cigar bars are exempt from smoking bans and for the sake of our jobs we earnestly request that you exempt our bar from any smoking restrictions.” How could the MP for Rotorua turn down that earnest request from those people who want to continue in work? 
Let me just finish in the short time I have available by talking about what these cigar bars are. I would like to take as an example the Cuba Cigar Bar. It has 14 private humidors as well as three communal humidors. There is an elegant display of a worldwide collection of cigars. There are monthly cigar club meetings with lectures by cigar aficionados.