Media statement

For immediate release

Monday, 11 August 2003

Dunne seeks delay in anti-smoking legislation

United Future leader, Peter Dunne, has called on Rotorua Labour MP, Steve Chadwick, to delay Parliament's consideration on Wednesday of the committee stages of her anti-smoking Bill to allow detailed consideration of new research into smokefree work environments.

Ms Chadwick's Bill seeks to ban smoking in bars, clubs and restaurants, but a study which was undertaken by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was commissioned by the association of cosmopolitan and sport clubs to try to prove that ventilation systems can clear the air of cigarette smoke.

NIWA tested the air in a Ruakaka club for carbon monoxide and the contaminant PM-10, and found that extra ventilation resulted in an acceptable level of air quality.

Mr Dunne is proposing an amendment to the Bill, which would set minimum air quality standards and leave it up to the bar owners to comply or else become entirely smokefree.

"This new study by a reputable scientific organization is fresh information that deserves to be studied by all MP's before they vote and I therefore call on Ms Chadwick to hold her Bill back to allow time for mature consideration," he said.

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