Rishi Sunak said he plans to continue with his smoking ban after New Zealand reversed its own flagship policy.

New Zealand’s new coalition government has announced its intention to revoke legislation passed by the previous liberal administration designed to make it a smoke-free nation.

Last year the country became the first in the world to outlaw smoking for the next generation. The policy meant anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 would never be able to buy tobacco.

It provided a blueprint for Mr Sunak’s tough measures announced at the Tory party conference in Manchester last month.

The prime minister said England’s ban means: “A 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and… they and their generation can grow up smoke-free.”

Asked whether Mr Sunak would consider following Wellington’s lead, a spokeswoman for the prime minister said: “No, our position remains unchanged.

“We are committed to that.

“This is an important long-term decision and step to deliver a smoke-free generation which remains critically important.”

It means the UK will likely have the toughest smoking laws in the world once New Zealand’s reversal comes into effect.

The U-turn in New Zealand comes after a new coalition deal ended six weeks of negotiations following the general election on October 14.

The election saw the country shift to the right, with a win for the Conservative National Party under Christopher Luxon ending six years of a Labour government.

Under New Zealand’s proportional voting system, parties typically need to form alliances in order to command a governing majority.

Some Tory MPs have criticised Mr Sunak’s smoking ban, alongside the tobacco industry.

Hailed by health campaigners, critics have described it as “illiberal”, “anti-Conservative” and compared it to “creeping prohibition”.

Former prime minister Liz Truss is among those set to vote against the move, when it goes to a free vote in the Commons.

However the legislation is likely to pass, with Labour signalling it will support the measure.

Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer, causing around one in four cancer deaths and leading to 64,000 deaths per year in England, according to Dr Javed Khan’s 2022 review into making smoking obsolete.

It is hoped the policy will prevent tens of thousands of deaths and save the NHS billions of pounds.

Downing Street said it expects up to 1.7 million fewer people to be smoking by 2075 as a result.

Source : Sky News

The post Rishi Sunak’s Position on Smoking Ban ‘Unchanged’ as New Zealand Scraps Policy appeared first on Policy Print.

It’s Black Friday and the new government coalition parties have signed up for a mixed bunch of bargains.

New Zealand First and ACT leaders Winston Peters and David Seymour will take turns as Deputy Prime Minister and Nicola Willis will be Finance Minister.

Peters will be Minister of Foreign Affairs and Seymour Minister for Regulation.

The next cabinet will have 20 members; 14 National ministers, three ACT ministers and three New Zealand First ministers.

The most notable rise will be of Tama Potaka who was elected to Hamilton West only last year in a byelection . He will jump ahead of many more experienced MPs to become Minister of Conservation, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti, Minister for Māori Development, Minister for Whānau Ora, Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing)

In terms of ministers outside Cabinet, there will be five from National, two from ACT and one from New Zealand First.

ACT and New Zealand First will each have one parliamentary under-secretary.

National’s foreign buyers tax will not go ahead, NZ First has secured a $1.2 billion regional infrastructure fund, and David Seymour’s Treaty referendum is out v with the new government instead to support a Treaty principles bill to select committee stage. Charter schools are back, light rail and Let’s Get Wellington Moving is gone.

ACT’s policy for a Minister for Regulation will be accompanied by the disestablishment of the current Productivity Commission. Firearms laws will also be reformed.

The three parties have unveiled the details of their coalition agreements this morning, with National making separate coalition agreements with each of its partner parties.

New Prime Minister Chris Luxon thanked New Zealanders for their “patience and understanding in the wait for this government to be formed over the last 20 days”.

“The new government is looking forward to working with you and to delivering the government’s programme and to getting things done for Kiwis.”

“The negotiation process has been diligent; it’s been focused, and it’s been purposeful. Our aim has simply been not to form a government but to form a strong and stable government that gets thing done for Kiwis.

The two coalition agreements and ministerial appointments can be found on the National Party’s news page here.

Developments in te ao Māori from the National- NZ First deal include:

• • Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
• •As a matter of urgency, issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race.
• • Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next Local Body elections.
• •Stop all work on He Puapua.
• •Confirm that the Coalition Government does not recognise the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as having any binding legal effect on New Zealand.
• •Amend section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Area Act to make clear Parliament’s original intent, in light of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Whakatohea Kotahitanga Waka (Edwards) & Ors v Te Kahui and Whakatohea Maori Trust Board & Ors [2023] NZCA 504.
• •Amend the Waitangi Tribunal legislation to refocus the scope, purpose, and nature of its inquiries back to the original intent of that legislation.
• • Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except when it is related to, or substantive to, existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes “The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references
• •Legislate to make English an official language of New Zealand.
• • Ensure all public service departments have their primary name in English, except for those specifically related to Māori.
• • Require the public service departments and Crown entities to communicate primarily in English – except those entities specifically related to Māori.
• • Protect freedom of speech by ruling out the introduction of hate speech legislation and stop the Law Commission’s work on hate speech legislation.
• •Abolish the Māori Health Authority
• •The Government will not change the official name of New Zealand.

Developments in the te ao Māori from the National- ACT deal will include:

• • Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.
• • Create a truly independent monitoring and oversight agency for Oranga Tamariki.
• • Improve the rights and responsibilities of caregivers to give them more autonomy.
• • Increase devolution of care decisions to relevant community organisations.
• • Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
• • Ensure government contracts are awarded based on value, without racial discrimination.
• • Issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race, within the first six months of Government.
• • Repeal the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act 2022.
• • Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next local body elections.
• •Pass the Constitution (Enabling a 4-Year Term) Amendment Bill through first reading in the first 15 months of the term.
• • Introduce a Treaty Principles Bill based on existing ACT polcy and support it to a Select Committee as soon as practicable.
• •No Three Waters (with assets returned to council ownership).
• •Pro-democracy – upholding the principles of liberal democracy, including equal citizenship, parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law and property rights, especially with respect to interpreting the Treaty of Waitangi

Source : TE AO News

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New Zealand’s National Party sealed agreement on a new three-party coalition government on Friday, after drawn-out negotiations over ministerial roles and policies including Indigenous rights, tax cuts and changes at the central bank.

The centre-right Nationals, led by incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, return to power alongside the populist New Zealand First party and libertarian ACT New Zealand after six years of rule by governments led by the left-leaning Labour Party.

“We believe in this country, we are ambitious for it and we know that with the right leadership, the right policies, and the right direction, together we New Zealanders can make this an even better country,” Luxon said in a speech ahead of the formal signing of the agreement at parliament.

The coaliation agreement outlines plans to roll back the use of Maori language, review affirmative action policies and assess how the country’s founding treaty document is interpreted in legislation. However, a controversial proposal to have a referendum on the interpretation of the document, the Treaty of Waitangi, will not happen.

New Zealand’s outgoing Labour Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the changes in policy were going to turn back progress on Maori issues.

“This is certainly going backwards by three or four decades,” he said.

Luxon, 53, said the government will also amend the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021 to remove the dual mandate on inflation and employment, to focus monetary policy only on price stability.

ANZ economists said in a note that proposed changes to the monetary policy framework “may be seen as hawkish” at the margins, but other announcements do not appear to be game changers for macroeconomic policy settings.

There are also plans to repeal a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration and a ban on the sale of cigarettes to future generations introduced by the previous Labour government, according to coalition documents.

The new government will cut personal income taxes, following through on a campaign policy used to woo middle income voters struggling with rising costs of living.

However, plans to open up New Zealand’s housing market to foreign buyers and tax these purchases to pay for the tax cuts have been shelved.

“Delivering tax relief is just one part of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy. The Government will ease the cost of living, reduce wasteful spending, and lift economic growth to increase opportunities and prosperity for all New Zealanders,” Luxon said.

The parties said they plan to “re-write the Arms Act” without giving any further details, and would undertake a review of the gun registry that was introduced after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in 2019. It also agreed to train no fewer than 500 new Police.

MIXED BAG

Parties on the political right gained popularity over the last year frustration with the ruling Labour Party grew. Charismatic former premier Jacinda Ardern became a favourite in progressive politics globally, but domestically, anger had built against strict COVID restrictions and rising living costs. Ardern stepped down in January.

Luxon, the former CEO of the national airline, only entered parliament in 2020 and became leader of the National Party at the end of 2021.

The new coalition cabinet, which will be sworn in on Monday, is a combination of veteran politicians and new leaders.

The role of deputy prime minister, a key sticking point in coalition negotiations, will be split between NZ First leader Winston Peters and ACT leader David Seymour.

National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis will be finance minister and Peters will be foreign minister, the parties said.

Peters – a colourful, populist figure in his late seventies – will be taking over as foreign minister for a third time after serving in the role in Ardern’s 2017 Labour-led government and with Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark in 2005.

“Foreign affairs does matter to this country…. all relationships do matter to this country,” Peters said in a joint news conference in the capital Wellington after the announcement.

“We expect the Chinese government to treat us the same way, regardless of our size,” he said when asked how he plans to deal with China’s growing influence in the region. “Size doesn’t matter respect does.”

Source : Reuters

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Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard has quietly released a new report which examines the context within which gangs exist in New Zealand.

It was requested last year by former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, “to support a policy agenda to reduce gang harm in our communities”.

The government has long been under pressure to control gang crime, with opposition parties accusing Labour of being soft on crime.

The report concludes there is no quick way of reducing gang harm.

Reducing harm, the report said, would require tackling the underlying and unsolved societal issues, including inequity, intergenerational trauma, housing and family violence.

“All of which serve to narrow the choices of those in our society who experience complex and inter-connected stressors,” it said.

While the report makes no specific recommendations, it does suggest introducing policies on family harm, youth offending and drug harm reduction.

The report said a public health approach “does not come at the expense of enforcement” but stressed “we can’t and won’t arrest ourselves out of the “gang problem”.

Legislative and police efforts to address gangs might deliver immediate outcomes, the report said, but longer-term interventions would be required to “build the society that we want in the long term.”

Enforcement serves a purpose but is not the only solution, it added.

“The evidence indicates that interventions such as ‘scared-straight’ or boot camp approaches are ineffective. And a ‘zero tolerance’ style of policing builds distrust in the communities that police are tasked to serve.

“It creates alienation and dislocation from communities and risks fuelling gang membership and increasing gang dislocation and isolation.

“We know that targeted enforcement efforts run the risk of strengthening internal gang cohesion, reinforcing anti‐social attitudes, and simply displacing offending elsewhere rather than addressing the problem at its root,” the report said.

The report suggested greater focus on prevention – which could include targeted programmes or poverty reduction and increased access to healthcare – to limit the number of young people joining gangs.

It said a young person having strong ties with their family, school and community would also reduce the chance of them being involved in a gang.

Investment to ensure young people “enjoy” those strong ties “offers the most hope of diminishing gang harm in the long term.”

The report said preventing young people from joining gangs was likely more cost effective than trying to facilitate disengagement.

Political parties respond

Minister of Police Ginny Andersen said the government welcomed the report.

“It identifies that there are no quick fixes when it comes to gangs and the underlying social issues that drive gang membership and activity.”

Andersen said government action was focused on both stopping the harm that gangs do as well as well as creating opportunities to ensure people do not enter gangs in the first place.

“Our investments have seen nearly 700 additional police working on, and an additional $94 million invested in, tackling gangs and organised crime.

“This is showing results with nearly 40,000 charges laid and over 400 firearms seized through Operation Cobalt.”

The National Party doubled down on its tough-on-gangs rhetoric, its police spokesperson Mark Mitchell saying he disagreed with the report.

“I would call on the gang leaders to stand up and recognise the fact that the gang culture has a very negative effect on not only the communities that they’re in but their own members, their families and their children. “

David Seymour Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

ACT Party leader David Seymour dismissed the report as little more than a doorstop – of no comfort to victims.

“They’re attempting to claim that if only the authorities are nice to gangs and treat them as friends they’ll start being nice back.

“Thankfully for them Labour has subjected New Zealanders to a real world experiment. They don’t improve their behaviour, in fact they get worse.”

The Green Party’s justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said successive governments had stoked fear over gangs for votes.

“People are very naturally fearful of crime, in particular violent crime, and it’s always easier to tell them it’s a simple solution. The tough on crime rhetoric has been that simple solution.”

Ghahraman added it would take political willpower to adopt an approach that actually works.

“When will the politicians have the courage and the integrity to say to the public, actually we have the solutions, they’re a bit more complicated and you know what they take to resource.”

‘This isn’t an either or situation’

Dame Juliet told Morning Report a focus on prevention would accompany police action on criminal offending.

“We definitely need to tackle organised crime – the question is which specific legislation you might use to do that,” she said.

History suggested using existing laws was more effective rather than gang-specific laws. A zero-tolerance approach risked fuelling gang membership in the long term.

“A focus on criminal offending rather than the jackets they are wearing is thought to be more successful by lots of experts.”

Gangs were a global issue but New Zealand was unusual with gang members often family members as well. For children born into a gang or the mother of a child getting out of that environment could be hard but there were interventions to get in early to break that cycle.

“Understanding those family dynamics can guide some successful interventions to support people to make better choices than joining a gang.

“If you think about a child excluded from school, and is on a path to joining a gang, wrapping round interventions with that young person to support them into making better choices, open up more possibilities than they’re seeing in their present life, is something that can accompany the police-type approaches.

“This isn’t an either or situation – these are to accompany short-term law enforcement approaches that focus on criminal offending itself.”

Source: RNZ News

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