Ok, you will all remember that Casey Costello was accused of sending a letter arguing for Tobacco tax cuts but then claimed she didn’t send it at all…
A politically charged document arguing for tobacco tax cuts was sent to health officials by a NZ First minister – even though she says she has no idea who wrote it or how it ended up in her office.
In December 2023, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello gave health officials the document which claimed “nicotine is as harmful as caffeine” and argued Labour’s smokefree generation policy was “nanny state nonsense”.
Earlier this year, Costello denied the document existed. Now, she has released it with parts redacted even though she says she does not know who wrote it.
Costello has consistently said she has had nothing to do with the tobacco industry.
Labour’s health spokeswoman, Ayesha Verrall, said Costello’s actions gave the opposite impression.
“Surely a bit of transparency would help the minister. But instead, she’s hidden documents, claimed not to know where they came from, [and] misrepresented them in Parliament. That’s not the behaviour of a minister who has got nothing to hide.”
…so what was Casey Costello, the former Tobacco lobbyist hiding?
What Costello hid from the public in the mystery document
While Costello released the document with parts of it hidden, RNZ has the original, unredacted document and so can compare the versions.
The redactions in the documents released under the OIA by Costello included censoring all the material pushing for tobacco tax cuts and the claims that nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine and that the last government’s policy was “nanny state nonsense”.
It argued strongly for tax cuts for Heated Tobacco Products – although this too was redacted.
“Smokeless tobacco is a vaping product, it does not combust and should not be taxed like combustible cigarettes, but instead like other vaping products that are not subject to excise,” the original document said.
“Giving up smoking should also mean giving up paying huge excise taxes. Excise tax is a tool to discourage use, we want to encourage smokers to use these products and one of the best ways to do that is to make it cheaper than cigarettes.”
Costello recently cut the excise tax on HTPs by 50 percent and set aside a contingency fund of $216 million to cover the tobacco tax cuts.
She did this despite health officials saying there was no strong evidence either that they worked as a smoking cessation tool or that they were significantly safer than cigarettes.
Ministers have to cite specific grounds for withholding information. Costello said redactions were made under a clause of the OIA which protects the “confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials”.
Costello’s office did not address questions from RNZ about how she could use this clause if she did not know who wrote the document.
…she has been caught out lying and she has been caught out trying to censor all her lobbying for the tax cut!!!
What the fuck does she have to do to get sacked?
If only this Government treated beneficiaries and the disabled the way they lovingly do for cigarettes.
How much must you hate Jacinda for having the temerity to save 20 000 lives during a once in a century pandemic for this outright corruption by National/ACT/NZF to be acceptable?
I’m beginning to wonder if she is just plain corrupt which is a worry given she was a Detective in NZ Police prior to being elected to Parliament.
If she is not corrupt then she is just plain dumb and incompetent which further indicates how dumb our PM is.
This is just outright corruption.
Of course it’s corruption. Corruption is a policy of the right.
Maybe Costello herself wrote or compiled it…in any event she will certainly go for a skate if the truth does finally emerge. Redactions on a “non existent” document?–wtf–do we have a functioning media… and does the Cabinet Manual not apply to these fuckers?.
It is not a good look when the CoC reduces school lunches from nutritious hot meals and fruit to dried out sandwiches to save money, but can still afford a $216 mill subsidy for the Tobacco Industry.
Luxon does not have the balls to sack her .He is the PM so has the power to kick her to the curb .He iclearly complicit in the lies and maybe he is the mystery author
While right wingers have no problem with sacking others for next to nothing they struggle to sack another right winger as they know they don’t have the numbers
Correct Bob
Baldrick 7 Pads Luxon needs to grow a pair of gonads.
Bob the fart would likely have endorsed anyone from Mussolini to Pinochet to Putin as doing “a fine job”. This MP, another bent ex copper like Sabin–who the conservatives and Torys seem to love selecting as candidates, has at the very best interpretation…misled both the public and Parliament.
She is up for the high jump if a proper forensic investigation is run on the document that she claims not to know who wrote or delivered to her office…
Show her Detective skill.
It’s left me speechless…
Everyone except Bob the idiot thinks she fucking useless, thankfully he’s the common denominator. Another day, another Bob troll.
NACTFIST are constantly lying about everything. when is a pothole fund not a pothole fund? when it’s bob the fisted’s. he loves his hole being filled with a big fat baloney. as for the other big C conservative sycophants – they just love lapping up the bullshit. their (w)hole fucking house is built on a floating raft of it tied together with obfuscation and malice
Worst Government Ever – it’s like a wet dream and we’re the idiots who are going to clean the fucking sheets
She is utterly despicable.
Another outstanding NZ First Minister doing a great job.
Winsston Hand picks the best.
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