Māori Health Researcher/Wai Claimant Blasts Government For Latest Response

WHANGANUI; Friday 9th Februrary, 2024:
Leading health researcher Dr Amohia Boulton, says
the government’s latest response to an urgent hearing with
the Waitangi Tribunal to repeal the smokefree act, is
appalling and shows disdain for Māori
lives.

Yesterday the Crown rejected the urgency of a
hearing, a move that has angered claimants; Dr Boulton is
one of the four claimants. The bill to repeal the Smokefree
Environments and Regulated Products Act will be introduced
to parliament on March 8th this year.

“We are less
than four weeks away from undoing legislation which will
prevent 5000 people dying per year. This is equivalent to
wiping out an entire town such as Balclutha (pop.4340), or
Kaikohe (pop. 4980) or Dargaville (pop.4794).

Boulton
says this decision is yet another nail in the coffin of not
just Māori but all New Zealanders.

“When one person
dies from smoking-related diseases, you don’t just bury
one person. The ripples extend out to their whānau, their
hāpori (community), their hapū, their Iwi. When one person
dies, hundreds of people are affected – this bill is bad
from every direction.

“Aotearoa doesn’t want this,
I’ve not met one person who thinks this is a good idea for
our nation,” says Dr Boulton.

Boulton says the
claimants will continue to pressure the government, but in
the meantime she is encouraging people to sign the petition
Put our People over Profit – Stop the Repeal of the
Smokefree Legislation | OurActionStation Link
here

“This government is content to throw away
Māori lives; their position is indefensible, the evidence
for keeping this bill as is irrefutable. We will continue to
fight for a Smoke-Free generation, we owe it to ourselves
and but also to the young people who are our future,” says
Dr
Boulton.

© Scoop Media