Prime minister Christopher Luxon’s new government is repealing legislation that would have introduced the world’s first generational tobacco ban to fund tax cuts. Photo credit: New Zealand National Party, CC BY-SA 4.0.
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Christopher Luxon, announced his government will be repealing tobacco regulations that introduced the world’s first generational smoking ban before they ever went into force, citing increased economic growth and lower inflation as his main priorities.
The legislation, which would have stopped those born after 2008 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes, was introduced in 2022 and scheduled to be implemented from July 2024. It would also reduce nicotine levels in tobacco products, restrict their sales only through special tobacco stores, and cut the number of stores allowed to sell cigarettes from 6,000 to 600 nationwide.
The original prohibition, according to Luxon, would have provided "an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed." He also told Radio New Zealand that, “Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime.”
"We will continue to make sure we have good education programs and encourage people to take up vapes as a cessation tool," Luxon said.
According to new finance minister, Nicola Willis, the tobacco restrictions will be scrapped before March 2024, with revenue from cigarette sales going towards the new government’s tax cuts.
“Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the government books – with about NZ$1 billion there,” said Willis.