Hone Harawira is right: Why Dr Shane Reti should be ashamed

By
Martyn Bradbury
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99
1699

Hone Harawira is 100% when he criticises the appalling decision to allow tax cuts for tobacco deaths…

Former Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira, a member of Hāpai te Hauora Smokefree Taskforce, said Māori would die from the changes.

“They’re happy to let Māori die so that they can get more money for tax cuts for their rich friends,” he told 1News.

“That’s the horrifying thing, that they are so naked in their charge for cash.”

…that the new Government would willingly support legislation that sees more Māori die so they can raise taxes is an obscenity!

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Dr Shane Reti should be ashamed that he is the Health Minister overseeing this. If he had any honour he would resign, if he doesn’t, he is the one whose mana will be stained forever.

That he has to push this tobacco deaths for tax cuts policy AND NZ First’s Swamp Kingdom conspiracy over the World Health Organisation has made his position untenable.

The new Health Minister: “Sorry you’re fired but here’s an AR15 and a packet of fags”

 

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99 COMMENTS

  1. Smoking is dumb. Taking it up as an addictive habit is stupid.

    I guess the question is what role do governments have to protect the stupid from themselves?

    • Are you touched in the head? How do you not see that over all reducing life expectancy is kind of yknow, bad. I guess that is common sense where you come from.

    • The problem is Ada that the State (us) ends up with the cost of the damage caused by the tobacco industry.

        • No.. that’s not correct …because a significant number of non smokers die from breathing in 2nd hand smoke…
          Children are given an early death sentence when brought up in a household where the parent/s smoke..
          Their lungs are damaged early on by inhaling years of 2nd hand smoke which is every bit as toxic and their likely of becoming addicted is high.

          National/Act/N.Z First are, and wiil continue to be, the dumbest most stupidest government ever…

        • Ada that’s only because they have only really started funding treatments that may work for more people. Sure they have had funding of some targeted small molecules but they are for mutations that don’t cover the vast majority

        • That’s bullshit Ada …

          “The total amount of revenue
          raised by tobacco excise and GST after the changes ($1.3b) will still leave at least half a
          billion shortfall compared to the health related costs of smoking.”

          If you’re going to post on this site Ada at least do some homework rather than bullshit throw away lines.

        • Wouldn’t it be better if the damage wasn’t done in the first place? then the medical resources could be used for non-preventable conditions.

      • and the tax on fags far exceeds the health costs….uncomfortable but true…in fact smokers subsidise YOUR HEALTHCARE

    • Unfortunately human beings have a weakness for addictive drugs, and when those drugs are produced on an industrial scale and distributed through a sophisticated commercial system to satisfy the cynical greed of capitalists and politicians then a lot of damage ensues to people who are not necessarily stupid. Too credulous perhaps in that they believe that the capitalist system would not deliberately, willfully and knowingly lead them to a nasty early death. Yet that is what colonialist capitalism does to our people. Perhaps the New Zealand government does not need to protect our people but it does need to stop profiting from their misery, and leading them into an early and unpleasant death.

      • Can I ask what others say in reference to this with Sugar, salt, caffeine etc.

        I also wonder if nicotine on a whole such as in vaping is the real problem?

        I think the last 7% of smokers will never stop but it doesn’t mean we don’t deter new users via education.

        Do we need to apply this thinking to vaping asap? Personally I think vaping should have been prescription only as a tool to help give up smoking.

        • nicotine in and of itself is harmless if very adictive….any anti vape activist is welcome tio refute my nstatement with checkable citations
          work from anti ciggy work is not acceptable as delivery method and addatives are very different…
          C’MON ANTI VAPERS shit or get off trhe pot…..moral panic is not science

          and that’s an open invitation to smokefree nz

    • When you are funding a public health system the role has a purpose. Riding a motorbike without a helmet is dumb but what role do governments have in protecting the stupid from themselves?

      • Wheel, are we asking the same question? And I’d note that smokers have paid for the extra health costs through the tobacco taxes.

        • Ada, I am not sure they have paid the equivalent cost of someone with Lung cancer if caught early enough. I am not sure what question you asking now. I thought your first question seemed pretty clear.

  2. 61 million a year to go after the last 5% of stupid people is a waste of money.
    5% is an acceptable number for many things.

    • Let’s put 5% of Lead in your water supply then & see how you feel?
      My conscience tells me that letting companies exploit the people you call stupid (In my mind we are all children of God so we should look after them) for private profit that costs more in health care eventually is the illogical transaction.

      • I’m not sure this is a good example – the lead in water – that becomes a basic right that would be less of a choice and not a corporation thing?

    • If that 5% keep going they are going to recruit more to that 5%. It’s not like there won’t be new starters. 61 million is probably cheaper that the ongoing health costs in a public system

    • 2 billion a year spent on the health cost to the public system let alone private, let alone social costs of smoking. What an appalling waste of people’s money and lives.

  3. I’m gunna get into the smoking cure-health business! $100 for nicotine patches and nicotine chewy and I’ll throw in a pack of ciggies for free!

  4. Is Dr Reti or anybody else going to be forcing cigarettes into these people’s mouths or are they choosing it themselves?

    I would rather live in a free society VS one where bureaucrats and Maori elites think they know best for me.

    • I guess you and your family ride around in the car without a seat belts, ride bikes without helmets and drink and drive these are laws that have evolved over time to protect and entrench ways of thinking to protect even the stupidest of us. Knowingly pushing poison into the poorest and most vulnerable areas for a tax gain it actually quite disgusting and irresponsible. If the Govt was actually worried these new fewer outlets would be targeted by theives They would be encouraging Dairy Owners to stop selling cigarettes and just provide the few new stores extra protections instead of the taxpayer paying for the security of every Dairy owner ln NZ. The Govts narrative is straight out of the Tobbaco Comapanies playback.

      • Great lines in there – I wonder if it would have been better to make smokes cheap via prescription for addiction as well as vaping another prescription tool to help with a step down (if vaping is a step down?).

        This way it would remove the black market, gangs and actually control the health sector who could come up with other additional services to help this nicotine addiction such as after 6 prescriptions to comply with a quit smoking meeting?

        Just thoughts for the day.

    • Shane Reti calls himself a doctor. He can’t have it both ways when it comes to smoking. He has been conspicuously absent during this debate but he can’t hide forever.

  5. Another dumb naive comment from Ada as eating too much AND drinking too much also have costs to our country.

  6. According to Michael King in his Penguin History of New Zealand Maori life expectancy in 1840 was 36. Just saying.

  7. ” Dr Shane Reti should be ashamed that he is the Health Minister overseeing this. If he had any honour he would resign, if he doesn’t, he is the one whose mana will be stained forever ”

    This policy is being implemented by a party that was critical of the original lockdown to control the death rates of the pandemic and wanted the borders open to allow the business of making money and profit ahead of public safety and the prospect of many deaths in the community as Covid continued to mutate into more dangerous variants.

    That sent the message that Kiwi lives are expendable and this smoking policy is just another example of the callousness and cruelty that all of their MP’s including Reti signed up for.

  8. I’m gunna set up a smoking giving up health service.

    $100 buys you nicotine patches and chewy and I’ll throw in a packet of ciggies so that you don’t get sick from overdosing on the patches.

    The first 5000 contestants will get a free pass.

    • Alas, that doesn’t really work. The Health Dept’s Quit Line was quite good before Bill English and co decided to privatise it.

  9. While some are critical of this government daring to suggest people have freedom of choice over tobacco they are happy to push the smoking of a drug called Cannabis .I find this very hypocritical.

    • Yet the freedom of choice to have a cellphone at school is taken away. Now you can argue whether that’s right or wrong but to purport this is a government for freedom of choice is simply wrong . What is clear is that it is freedom of choice as long as this government says it is.

      See mosa’s post above for the hypocrisy of this new government.

    • Why? Cannabis and tobacco are very different substances. Bit like vodka and beer are both alcohol but very different.

      In any event – if you don’t want to use something then don’t – but how is it reasonable to stop others?

  11. Dr Cigareti has long been an opportunist sellout as was observed over his time as Whangārei MP on various issues.

    Hone Harawira in contrast has been a staunch supporter of getting to a smoke free situation for all New Zealanders.

  12. There’s a thing called ‘agency’ that all humans possess, whether they realize it or not. It is defined as:

    “Your capacity to influence your own thoughts and behavior and have faith in your ability to handle a wide range of tasks and situations.”

    Even Māori have it, despite the fact that a minority of them as represented by TPM endlessly play the role of the victim. If they wish to avoid all the medical consequences of smoking, they can choose not to smoke, just like most of us already have.

      • Factually incorrect. Your argument fell over at ” ALL” . If you were even anywhere near correct why would we need rules?

        So what have National banned cell phones in schools? So much for allowing capacity to influence your own thoughts.

        • Lots of rules are created because they give progressive politicians an aura of doing something and responding to an issue.

    • @Andrew and Ada, Maybe you need to walk a mile in their shoes to understand their situation. It seems arrogant to suggest that everyone is in control of their life at all times.

  13. More harm and injuries via alcohol than tobacco.
    Why is it whenever anything is banned/increased cost/restricted it’s all about maori, the headlines and the elite come out of the woodwork complaining.
    So no worries about the non maoris then, they can look after themselves, but Maori need to be wrapped in cotton wool and hand held?
    it has been known for 50+yrs smoking is deadly, I’ll bet a fair few posters on here gave it up at some stage (myself included).
    Why no outrage/moaning that ciggies are about $2 a pop now (I think, about 40bucks for a pack of 20?) Isn’t that hurting ‘the poor’ hardest?

    • Watch out the maoris are coming. lol – what a right wing nancy boy with monsters lurking in every shadow. Stand up for your own community then. Stop blaming Maori for standing up for theirs, because newsflash – they won’t, ever.

      • In essence, Im right agrees with Labours policy for a smokefree NZ. He admits smoking is hurting people, his selected government disagrees.

    • I’m right – this is a good discussion topic and we cannot be afraid to not have it.

      Not sure if it is sad or not but I only see things in dichotomous way – I look at this from a Treaty point of view in which it states all things that are Taonga the govt needs to maintain for all Māori – and the people are the first Taonga.

      Many see this as a European govt (crown) putting themselves in the corner but personally I think I agree very much with the Māori King lately – in which he states we need to leave the saying of ‘Māori for Māori’ but change to ‘Māori for everyone’.

      If we are all Taonga then we can all be under the same laws, services and care provided by govt with one bureaucracy?

      Now how that government is created with Māori may be the bigger question and debate in NZ’s society at the moment?

  14. This isn’t about freedom of choice or anything high-minded like that.
    It’s simply about ways of finding revenue so they don’t have to admit to their donors and wealthy friends that they are sorry, Nicola didn’t do her sums right and they can’t give them tax cuts without squeezing more tax out of someone else.
    They used that bribe which gullible people believed despite the idea of things costing less, being utterly stupid.
    The money has to come from somewhere and they didn’t want to suggest their friends paid more tax through other channels. It’s much easier to tax easy targets like the poor, through their foolish habits.

  15. Dr Reti may find himself in deep shit. Deeper than it currently is. Don’t registered doctors sign a pledge to “do no intentional harm”? Maybe he’s exempt for some reason. Like, not currently a registered practitioner. Even so, where’s his conscience?

    Not likely to be his call however. Fall into line. I suspect he’s not sleeping all that well at present.

  16. A minister of health repealing an act that promotes the health and wellbeing of people just doesn’t sit comfortably with me. Neither does it sit with every health organisation in NZ.
    A policy that WAS NOT campaigned on.
    The article headline is correct however is very lenient in its judgement of Reti.

    • I think we need to be aware that what is and not campaigned on needs to be evaluated with all parties as potential MMP partners.

      Either way if it was a left or right govt with NZ First say making a decision it could very well be Labour that did this under NZ Firsts coalition.

  17. One week in National has set medicine back 60 years while obliterating New Zealand’s reputation. Solid vote knuckleheads.

  19. Shane CIGGARETI, this is a name that’s going to stick to this Man forever, like dogshit sticking to a blanket? It’ll be stamped on his Gravestone & this diabolical Right Wing Govt will forever be known as the Coalition of Ciggies, The Fags Threesome, made up of a Baldheaded bullshiter called Christopher “Camel Joe” Luxon with a 78 yr old Geriatric who should be in a Rest Home or Mental Asylum, this hateful Old codger called Winston “Benson & Hedges” Peters & a useless as pigshit ACT weasel who’s never had a real job in his entire Life, David “Rothmans” Seymour! Behold, your Coalition of Cigarettes, breathe deeply in the foul stench of their ciggie breath for the next 3 yrs & cough your guts out when these rogues screw you over!

  20. Where is Tariana Turia in all of this, thought this was her baby, she has been oddly quiet, could it be that she is embarrassed by all her endorsing of the Nats and this is how they have thanked her. Would have though she would be gutted and vocal about the repealing of all her hard work.

  21. my only comment left, is vaping has cut smoking numbers in all europian countries….what brown envelopes did smokefree get from foriegn interests is my question

Comments are closed.