Health Coalition Aotearoa says it is an “indictment on
our nation” for New Zealand to fall from second in 2023 to
53rd in a global study released today assessing the
interference of the tobacco industry.
The 2025 Global
Tobacco Industry Interference Index outlined New Zealand’s
“most deteriorated” and paper-thin protection against
tobacco industry interference.
Health Coalition
Aotearoa’s Smokefree Expert Advisory Group co-chair
Professor Chris Bullen says the report shows the
Government’s actions are far too closely aligned with the
tobacco industry’s agenda.
“This report shows our
Government blindly letting Big Tobacco waft back into New
Zealanders’ lives despite decades of relentless work
towards Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. How many times do we
have to remind the government that tobacco kills?” asks
Bullen.
Despite overwhelming opposition from health
experts, Māori health providers and other New Zealanders,
in early 2024, the Government repealed crucial elements of
the Smokefree Act, gave tax breaks to tobacco companies
through the reduced excise tax on heated tobacco products,
and continues to allow unregulated lobbying by the tobacco
industry.
Bullen says, “We are the first country in
the world that we’re aware of with a government that has
reduced a tobacco tax. Tobacco remains the leading cause of
preventable death in Aotearoa. Rolling back protections and
bending to industry pressure is not just shameful, but
harmful – it will have health consequences for many of New
Zealand’s most vulnerable people.”
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This report
reflects the decades of progress dismantled by the current
Government and sends a clear signal to New Zealand: tobacco
industry priorities now outrank public health.
Health
Coalition Aotearoa (HCA) is a coalition of member
organisations committed to closing the health prevention gap
in Aotearoa. HCA has been campaigning for tighter regulation
of lobbying and industry influence on policy across all
government sectors in its Level
the Playing Field campaign since April 2025.
HCA
works with the Cancer Society, ASPIRE Aotearoa research
group, Public Health Communication Centre and Vape-Free Kids
in a collaborative effort to increase transparency on
tobacco industry lobbying and improve smoking and vaping
cessation
policy.
