New Zealand's leading Maori tobacco researcher says further tax increases on smokers have become a racist policy that is discriminating against Maori, mental health patients and others.
Dr Marewa Glover, who has spent 23 years in tobacco research and supported further tax increases as recently as last year, says she has changed her mind because the tax increases of 10 per cent a year since 2010 have had no significant effect on smoking rates for the two biggest smoking groups - Maori and Pacific people.
Last week's Budget said the policy of raising taxes by 10 per cent a year would continue until 2020, lifting the price of a typical pack of cigarettes to $30.
"My support was contingent on a reduction in smoking, especially for Maori women, and that hasn't happened," said Dr Glover, an associate professor at Massey University.
The 2014-15 NZ Health Survey found the numbers of Maori women smoking daily fell only slightly over the past nine years, from 41.8 per cent in 2006-07 to 40 per cent.
The rate for Pacific women actually increased, from 19.7 per cent to 20.6 per cent.
The rates for Maori and Pacific men dropped more. But even those changes were not statistically significant because of small sample sizes.
Smoking rates for Europeans and Asians did drop significantly.
All aboard the racism train! Next stop: Discrimination Station!
Over recent years, the New Zealand government has pursued a policy with one of it's coalition partners, the Maori Party, introducing tobacco taxes as a way of reducing smoking rates among the populace as well as likely using the money to pay for health costs. And this has been largely effective across many communities in New Zealand except in Maori and Pacific Islander communities. These were proposed by former Maori Paty co-leader Dame Tariana Turia, who claims they are not racist.
So rather than find alternative ways to deal with this, Dr Glover has decided to play the "race" card by calling it "legal discrimination". Outside from the fact that recent bans on outdoor smoking are moronic, the idea that the tobacco tax increases are "racist" is absurd. If it was racist, then the policy would have been specifically aimed at Maori and Pacific Islanders and not already considered to be a public health issue that needed addressing. Glover also claims that she doesn't support the moves anymore because rates have not dropped significantly, despite other studies confirming significant drops not only in Maori women who smoke regularly but also Maori youth also.
So, NSG. Is a tax policy proposed and introduced by a Maori political party racist against Maori and Pacific Islanders?
