Anti-smoking advocates are raining fire on Casey Costello, New Zealand’s associate health minister. Photo credit: New Zealand Parliament
New Zealand’s associate health minister, Casey Costello, is being attacked by anti-smoking advocates after it became known she was considering a three-year freeze on tobacco excise tax.
RNZ first reported the possible freeze after seeing a ministry of health document that was sent to Costello. In the document it says, “The additional information you provided to us proposed also to freeze the excise on smoked tobacco for three years.”
Tobacco excise tax currently increases each year in line with the consumer price index (CPI).
Although Costello declined to confirm to RNZ that she was proposing a halt on excise increases, she did say she was open to the idea. "There is a high cost being paid by the people who can least afford it, because they have an addiction to nicotine and we're continuing to penalise that demographic of society," she said. "I have some sympathy for a freeze because we are now dealing with a much smaller group of people that are carrying an incredible financial burden."
According to RNZ, Costello is also proposing removing the excise tax from smokeless tobacco products as it was part of the coalition agreement between the National and New Zealand First parties.
Anti-smoking advocacy group Health Coalition Aotearoa’s chairperson, Boyd Swinburn, called for Costello being stripped of her duties. “Casey Costello has lost all credibility as an associate minister of health. Everything she has done to date is anti-health - in fact she is acting more like a minister for the tobacco industry,” he said. "The Health Coalition is calling for her to be replaced as an associate minister of health, given all these policies she's come out with which are really supporting the tobacco industry's position."
Ben Youden, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) director, said the proposal did not make much sense. “Given the finance minister has stated last year that tobacco tax is an important revenue, it seems odd that a freeze on excise tax would be on the table,” he said.