Hone Harawira calls for ‘death tax’ on Big Tobacco, vaping wiped out as well as cigarettes – Newshub

Harawira, appearing on The AM Show prior to Dr Verrall's announcement, said reducing the number of outlets would help cut crime.

"You've got small dairies and garages for example, that get robbed. Those are the ones you want to say, 'Look we're gonna shut [you] down - you've got until then to restock with other product, then we're gonna shut you down.'

"People don't rob the big guys like Countdown and Pak'nSave and places like that. So you do the little ones first, then the bigger ones later.

"At the same time, you have to bring in tobacco and vaping product sales venues. It's an addiction, eh?

"It's not something you can just take away. It's an addiction and people need to be helped to get through."

Mori and Pasifika still smoke at much greater rates than other ethnicities. The overall adult smoking rate is 11.6 percent, down from 18 percent 15 years ago; for Mori, it's 28.7 percent and Pasifika 18.3 percent.

"A bit like COVID, a bit like health issues, a bit like everything else Mori and Pasifika, we always end up getting the wrong end of the stick and end up carrying the can," said Harawira, calling for the new campaign to focus on those communities. Dr Verrall's announcement noted funding in Budget 2021 for targeted help for Pasifika communities, and the formation of a new Mori Advisory Taskforce headed by Dame Tariana Turia to help keep the Government on track.

While regular excise taxes have helped fund anti-smoking initiatives, Harawira said the industry itself should foot the bill, not consumers, via a "death tax".

"I'd sue every big tobacco company, make them pay $1 million for everyone who dies from tobacco and vaping-related illnesses - 50 percent to the whnau, 50 percent to the campaign to stop this. We'd be fully funded for this campaign just off that in the first year the second thing is I'd sue every one of those bastards as well."

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Hone Harawira calls for 'death tax' on Big Tobacco, vaping wiped out as well as cigarettes - Newshub