Tupeka Kore congratulates Hon. Associate Minister of Health, Dr. Ayesha Verrall, for the tremendous work to get us through to the third reading of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill passed in Parliament last night - a significant milestone in reaching Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025 and it will save countless lives and protect whānau from the trauma of losing loved ones.

Tupeka Kore is a collective of academics, cessation experts and kaimahi Māori that are accountable to whānau Māori, Hapū and Iwi who say that this could only have been possible because of the collective work of those who fought tirelessly for change and never gave up.

Anaru Waa, a spokesperson for Tupeka Kore and leading Māori Researcher on Tobacco for Otago University says "We’d like to acknowledge all of those who have contributed to this topic for almost two decades, who have given everything to this issue so that Māori-dom is sustainable, and whakapapa is preserved, the likes of Dame Tariana Turia, Hone Harawira, Shane Bradbrook and the many others that have taken up this challenge"

Tupeka Kore says it has come a long way since the 2010 Māori Affairs Select Committee Report that identified a need for legislative controls, and a by Māori, for Māori approach to reducing smoking rates and the inequitable harm to Māori from smoking. However, there is still plenty of work to do they say.

"This is an enormous achievement and it’s reflective of all the hard work of many, however we can’t take ‘our foot off the pedal’ just yet, rates of smoking for Māori are still lagging behind, and with Regulations from the legislation yet to be determined, it’s extremely important we remain diligent" says Waa

It is expected that there will be a public consultation phase for the upcoming Regulations that will look at the finer details of this legislation process, at which time Government will be calling on New Zealanders for community submissions, from community groups, Iwi and Hapu leaders.

Jasmine Graham of Hāpai Te Hauora says "The passing of this Bill is an incredible step forward, we are looking forward to working with our communities to activate more awareness around the Smokefree kaupapa, and we will continue to support and empower our communities to take action."

Graham also says "While we are pleased that rates of smoking overall are on the decline for some groups, there is still inequitable outcomes for Māori. We need to invest into more resources and build on the services that support people to quit, including funding into quit smoking services, health promotion and national campaigns."

The three key legislative components of the Bill are making nicotine no longer addictive, reducing the ease of access to tobacco and protecting our future generations from ever taking up smoking. The fourth component is supporting Māori communities and leaders who have been fundamental to achieving this law.

"The success of this Bill in reducing smoking rates to less than 5% for all population groups, must include Māori leadership in the design and strategic methodologies, an essential element to achieve the desired objectives." says Shane Bradbrook Public Health Advocate.

A Māori Governance Taskforce has been set up to work in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Director General of Health, and we’d like to see this relationship strengthened. Equally important, is to hold those accountable for the harm caused to our people, our whānau.

"This is another shot at the Tobacco Industry. We must get this right to achieve our nations Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. With 12 people that die every day in New Zealand from tobacco, we need to put all our collective efforts together to support the entire suite of measures to be rolled out asap." says Bradbrook

We call out to the leaders of our nation to make this a priority in the coming months, and support from all political parties would be particularly important, as we enter into an election year.

Bradbrook says "We look forward to working with the Ministry and the Crown in partnership over the coming year to help move us closer towards seeing the sun set on tobacco in Aotearoa."

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