Casey Costello has insisted she did not go to the tobacco industry for advice. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello has vehemently denied any dealings with the tobacco industry, as health researchers questioned her credibility during a Health Coalition Aotearoa conference.
Costello has faced scrutiny for rolling back smokefree laws and giving health officials a document that claimed "nicotine is as harmful as caffeine" and argued Labour's smokefree generation policy was "nanny state nonsense".
The minister also recently cut the excise tax on Heated Tobacco Products (HTP), to make them a more attractive alternative to smoking.
The changes are in line with what tobacco companies have campaigned for, with the dominant player in the HTP market being Philip Morris, whose staff includes two former senior staff members of New Zealand First.
"I've had no involvement with the tobacco industry," Costello said in response to questions about her credibility at the conference on Tuesday.
"Despite enormous efforts to OIA and WPQ [Written Parliamentary Questions] me, there has been no association with the tobacco industry and that has not been where I have gone to for advice," Costello said.
She said the document, which RNZ did receive under the Official Information Act, also had nothing in it that was contrary to the policy position of New Zealand First.
Costello said the government remained committed to Smokefree 2025, with around 80,000 people needing to quit by the end next year to achieve that goal.
A significant number of people had stopped smoking due to alternatives such as vapes, and legislation was underway to make smoking alternatives cheaper, she said.
"We need to have a fit-for-purpose legislation and a regulatory regime that provides the same level of control across smoked tobacco and other nicotine products."
The goal would not end with Smokefree 2025, she said.
"We also need to remain vigilant that New Zealand remains smokefree, that young people do not start smoking or vaping, and that those who have quit smoking or vaping do not restart."
University of Auckland tobacco researcher Chris Bullen was sceptical that New Zealand would reach the Smokefree 2025 goal.
"I don't think under the current plans that you've outlined that we're likely to make the 2025 goal, and certainly not without a huge cost."
Repealing smokefree legislation was damaging and releasing new nicotine products into the market an untested radical experiment, he said.
He did, however, support the government's efforts to improve regulation to smoking alternatives.