When NZ Didn’t Capitulate To The Smoking and Vaping Deathmongers – a forlorn fantasy
Guardians of Breath - When Aotearoa Chose Life Over Lobbyists
There are rare moments in political history when a government doesn’t just pass a law, it takes a stand for civilisation itself.
March 2024 was one such moment. The coalition government of the day, under immense pressure from tobacco lobbyists, ideological zealots and the machinery of short-term political convenience, made a different choice. They chose to stand firm.
Despite fierce lobbying from Philip Morris and whispered deals in back corridors, the Government reaffirmed the Smokefree Generation law. No tobacco for anyone born after 1 January 2009. Low-nicotine cigarette mandates remained intact. Retail outlets continued to reduce, particularly in vulnerable and high-harm communities.
This was not policy by poll. It was leadership by principle.
The Air We Saved
While others argued for “freedom to choose,” this government remembered that addiction is not a choice, it’s a trap and one set deliberately and generationally by billion-dollar industries that profit off suffering.
Instead of capitulating to these powers, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, flanked by Māori health leaders and community advocates, announced a recommitment to the Smokefree 2025 goal.
“We are not here to negotiate with addiction,” she said. “We are here to dismantle it”, and with that, Aotearoa did something rare and radical - it put people before profit.
Real Partnership, Real Tiriti Honour
For Māori communities, it was more than a health win. It was a Treaty win.
The government embraced co-design and consultation as the backbone of its approach. Organisations like Hāpai Te Hauora and Health Coalition Aotearoa weren’t just heard, they were heeded. Policy was shaped in tandem with those most affected by tobacco harm, not imposed upon them from a sterile office block in Wellington.
The message was clear - your health, your voice, your tino rangatiratanga.
For the Children Yet Unborn
The moral courage to hold the line was not hypothetical. It was generational. The law would mean that by 2027, every 18-year-old in Aotearoa would be legally unable to buy tobacco. Smoking initiation rates, especially among Māori rangatahi, would plummet and for the first time in our nation's history, the cycle of lung disease, poverty and early death would show signs of breaking. This wasn’t policy for headlines. It was for whakapapa.
They didn’t sell the future. They safeguarded it.
Government Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Aotearoa Breathes - Future-Proofing Health and Honour”
Today, the Government of New Zealand reaffirms its position as a world leader in public health by upholding the landmark Smokefree Generation law, a bold step towards ending tobacco addiction and honouring our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“The world is watching,” said Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, “and we are proud to lead not with fear, but with integrity.”
Highlights -
Tobacco sales banned for anyone born after 2009
Projected drop of 80% in youth smoking by 2030
Treaty-based partnership embedded in enforcement and education
Public health, not private profit, as the moral compass
This is what progress smells like: clean air, equity, and a future unbought.
Letter to the Editor – Māori Health Organisation
To the Editor,
Today, for once, I write not in anger but in tears of relief.
The Government’s decision to stand by the Smokefree Generation policy is a moment of genuine aroha, for our people, our mokopuna and our ancestors who fought to protect us from harm long before this legislation existed.
We’ve spent decades burying whānau far too soon. We have watched the tobacco industry profit from that pain, cloaked in white paper and red tape.
But this government said no. They said - not anymore and that matters. It tells our tamariki they are worth protecting. That their breath, their future and their dreams are not for sale.
— Dr Mereana Tipene, Director, Māori Smokefree Equity Network
Letter to the Editor – Individual Impact
To the Editor,
I don’t usually write letters like this, but today I had to.
My son turned 13 last week. He’s bright, funny, curious and he will never, ever be legally sold a cigarette in this country. That is a miracle.
You can’t measure the relief I feel, knowing he won’t grow up in the shadow of addiction that stole so much from my own whānau. For once, policy didn’t just listen, it protected. It loved us back. That’s what this feels like. Love, written into law.
To everyone who fought for this, thank you and to everyone else - please, never stop fighting for what’s right.
— Teuila Fatu, Christchurch
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