A New Zealand minister has slammed Australia’s war on tobacco as an “appalling failure”.
Minister of Customs and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said in a local podcast Australia’s response to illicit tobacco had been an “appalling failure” after a recent trip here, The Daily Telegraph reports.
“If you see a young person smoking in New Zealand, it’s like a unicorn. But Darling Harbour, across the waterfront, there were young people smoking. We don’t have that, and we need to be proud of that,” Costello said.
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In response, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said Australia’s smoking and vaping legislations were working.
“Making sure young people didn’t get addicted to vapes was always our focus. They were told vapes were a safe alternative to smoking, but that was all a ruse from Big Tobacco. We know vaping has become a gateway to cigarette smoking,” he said.
New Zealand’s smoking rate has declined from more than 14 per cent in 2019 to just 6.9 per cent in 2023. In the same period – the number of daily smokers in Australia fell from 11 per cent to 8.3 per cent.
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