Public health progress at risk in election, health minister says

Smoking, vaping, junk food and alcohol were up for scrutiny at Health Coalition Aotearoa’s political panel on prevention, held this morning in Wellington.

Health minister Ayesha Verrall, National Party health spokesperson Shane Reti and Green Party drug reform and mental health spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick were quizzed about their parties’ policies for preventing harm from these products.

Dr Verrall defended the Labour Government’s work in public health. Dr Verrall said key achievements were the COVID-19 pandemic response, passing of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, new restrictions on vape sales, requiring bread to be fortified with folic acid, and centralising water fluoridation management.

Smokefree amendments decrease the number of retailers able to sell tobacco products from July next year, reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco products from April 2025 and prohibit the sale of smoked tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

Dr Verrall says she hopes to be in Government to protect these changes against “attempts to subvert them” after the October election. She says National has not committed to keeping the smokefree environment changes and will cut many public health services to fund its tax cuts.

She also accused National of attacking Labour’s “equity agenda” where it had attempted to create more equitable health outcomes for Māori, through Māori health programmes and creating the Māori Health Authority.

“So much of the progress we have made is at risk,” Dr Verrall says.

Asked several times during the discussion, chaired by RNZ National's Morning Report presenter Corin Dann, whether Labour will remove GST from fruit and vegetables or introduce a sugar tax to make junk food less affordable, she would not comment. She asked the audience to wait for Labour’s upcoming health manifesto.

Dr Reti says National supports the tools introduced in the smokefree amendments but disagrees with the implementation. He also agrees there is a need to protect young people from vaping harm.

National will not support removing GST from fruit and veggies, Dr Reti says, describing the idea as a “boondoggle”. He says National’s planned tax cuts package will give New Zealanders on average $1000 per household and this will do more to help them access healthy food.

Dr Reti, MP for Whangārei, pointed to “broken promises” saying the Government had not achieved its policies of providing more mobile dental clinics and 4000 additional appointments per year through the Northland addictions service Te Ara Oranga.

Promoting exercise should be a key strategy for combating obesity and public education should be a key strategy for reducing alcohol harm, he says.

Dr Reti got a frosty reception from the audience compared with that for Dr Verrall and Ms Swarbrick and, at the end of the event, Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa Te Morenga (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Te Uri o Hua, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa) thanked him for attending, adding public health events can be a difficult audience for right-wing politicians.

Ms Swarbrick thanked the Government for its work so far on health and equity but said more needs to be done to address the major underlying social determinants of ill health, such as poverty.

She called for law changes to curb the “insidious power” of the alcohol and tobacco lobbies and also for the removal of alcohol marketing and advertising from sport.

Overall Ms Swarbrick says the Greens want to introduce “sensible legislation” that takes the profit out of harmful products.

Hitting back at Dr Reti’s comments on exercise, Ms Swarbrick argued the Government should be taking actions to make it easier for people to live healthy, dignified lifestyles.

“We need to stop building bloody roads,” she exclaimed to loud applause.

A video of the panel discussion will be made available online on the Health Coalition Aotearoa website this week.