If you were at the university’s clubs day during Week 1, you may have seen the Young Nats and Labour tents staring each other down. As an avid watcher of Parliament TV, I can tell you that things got even more intense when it came to discussing smoking and vaping policies in the debating chamber.
During question time in New Zealand Parliament on the 3rd of March, MP Andy Foster of New Zealand First did what New Zealand First MPs do best: stir the pot, whether they mean to or not. Fortunately, I didn’t have to rely on Winston Peters saying something ridiculous for content this week – every time Andy Foster tried to ask a question about National’s banning of disposable vapes, a mysterious member of the public felt it necessary to shout “better than Labour” from the gallery.
Responding Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello chuckled initially, but after Foster’s third or fourth supplementary question, it was time to focus on what the current government is supposedly doing “better than Labour” when it comes to smoking and vaping regulations. Costello described increased funding towards Smokefree Rock Quest and Tangata Beats and effective information and support surrounding quitting smoking, particularly Māori and Pacific Peoples, that was “being done really well”. The guy in the public gallery thought it was “better than Labour”, though Costello admitted “we can do more”. She also explained that while “90% of retailers have been doing the right thing”, there have been “bad actors that have been holding us back”.
Eventually, question time came to an end, but not before National’s biggest superhero attempted to get in a statement about “Labour policies” before being interrupted by the proceedings of parliament.
But what were Labour’s policies on smoking and vaping?
Well, if you were going to base your vote this year on ease of obtaining nicotine, both sides of the political spectrum seem to want to tighten legislation. My condolences to the people that like to smoke next to the no smoking signs in the green space near R block. EDITOR’S NOTE FOR DESIGNERS: THIS IS MY SMOKE SPOT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REDACT THIS – DYLAN
The “Labour policies” of the 2017-2023 Labour Government that our audience participant was referring to were even stricter. The aim of the “revolutionary” action plan was to reach New Zealand’s goals of being effectively smoke free by 2025 – that is, less than 5% of individuals being smokers across all ethnicities.
The policies were praised by health experts, iwi, and the general public, but were swiftly repealed by the current National Government under urgency in 2024. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out the motive: the move is expected to generate $1.5 billion in tax revenue by 2028.
However, modelling showed that Labour’s action plan was expected to prevent 6450 and 9890 smoking-related deaths by 2040 and address health disparities faced by Māori populations. Based on that information, I think Casey Costello was right when she said, “we can do more”.
An important lesson can be learned from question time on the 3rd of March. It’s easy to separate issues into neat boxes of “left” and “right”, but Labour and National are not always opposites. Labour MP Dr Ayesha Verrall also presented a question, however it was not towards National’s policy itself, but rather if it was being enforced strongly enough. For many of you reading this, the 2026 General Election will be your first time voting. When deciding who to vote for, remember that not every policy is about what will being done, but how it will be done and what needs to be prioritised – democracy is about voting for what you think is important.
