New Zealand‘s newly elected government has vowed to abolish the country’s anti-smoking law, enacted in 2022, which aimed to curb smoking-related fatalities. The law increased the smoking age, effectively preventing individuals born after January 2009 from purchasing cigarettes at all. It also decreased the legal nicotine content in tobacco products and limited their retail availability, slashing the number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes from 6,000 to 600.
Repealing elements of this, including the reduction in retail outlets and the phasing out of smoking for future generations, is a part of the new government’s coalition agreement. This maneuver is anticipated to generate significant revenue through tobacco sales to fund coalition-proposed tax cuts.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced that the changes will be rescinded before March 2024, given the fiscal ramifications that the smoke-free legislation posed on government revenues.
The new government also maintains that reversing these restrictions will help avert a clandestine tobacco market and reduce criminal activity that could target tobacco shops.