6506 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Associate Minister of Health

6506 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Associate Minister of Health: How was the information she received from officials “out-of-date or incomplete” regarding significant economic benefits from the Smokefree reforms as reported by Newsroom?

Hon Casey Costello: Given that the economic and financial advice provided to me was no different than what was presented in the Member’s Regulatory Impact Statement from 2021 on the Smokefree Aotearoa Action Plan, it would seem obvious that the data was out-of-date. Further, the claim that the 5% goal would not be achieved until 2061 is based on modelling that used data from the 2006 and 2013 Censuses. The previous government may have been content to base decisions on out-dated numbers, but this Government certainly is not.