Casey Costello: Associate Health Minister on the 50% cut to heated tobacco products

Casey Costello's hit back at health advocates over criticism of her heated tobacco tax cut. 

The Associate Health Minister cut the tax by 50% in an effort to encourage use of the products instead of smoking. 

Costello has faced a tense reception regarding the move. 

But she told Heather du Plessis Allan she's working hard to reduce smoking rates, despite what she calls "the noise". 

She says the Health Coalition became fixated on the tobacco industry, not Costello's plans to reduce smoking rates. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, the pressure keeps piling on this government over its
handling of smoking policies. This week, the reports have focused
on tax cuts that the government is giving one tobacco product,
it's a heated tobacco product made by Philip Morris, and
the cuts to the tune of two hundred and sixteen
million dollars. Associate Health Minister Casey Costello is with us
on this Casey. Hello, Hi, how are you well? Thank

(00:22):
you Casey. This feels like a complete non story to
me because I'm reading this morning that Philip Morris has
actually just pulled this product off the shelves.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, and this is the unfortunate thing. The noise around
the two hundred and sixteen million was a contingency sum.
Our total excise collected was for related tobacco products not
smoking was about six million, just under six million and
twenty twenty three, so the and heated tobacco was a
portion of that six million. So this two hundred and

(00:52):
sixteen was a contingency sum put into the budget to
capture in case there was this massive turnaround. But they're
there won't be and as you've sayen now.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Turn around, you would like every single one of us
will suddenly take the fags up.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah. Well, this is the thing is that the only
country that they could find to compare us to was
Japan around using heated tobacco as a sea station tool.
Japan doesn't have vaping, so that was the differential, and
that was kind of where things got distorted. So this
two hundred and sixteen million was you know, it was

(01:28):
never going to be that, and we and you know,
people need to be reminded, we have no excize on
vaping at the moment, so you know, this is a differential.
We were looking for sea station tools. You know, we
lost the subscussion which to get people to quit.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Are you were saying there's no x scize on vaping.
Therefore you were basically taking the x sise off the
heater tobacco products and putting them on a level playing field.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, we were trying to make it we're only taking
fifty percent off, and we were trying to lot to
see if you know, you've got hardcore smokers that vaping
hasn't worked forward. So creating a differential between the price
of a packet of cigarettes and a vaping product a
heated tobacco product was to see if we could get

(02:10):
people who were hard core addictives markets and that's the
people we're targeting to quit smoking. And we're on a
journey in Casey.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Is there any other company? Are there any other heated
tobacco products on the market other than the one that's
been pulled off in New Zealand?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
In the in the world there is, but not in
well And this is where we know there are other
heated tobacco products in New Zealand that aren't but I
you know, I don't know what the products are. And
what we were trying to see is if there's an
opportunity to present these alternate products. We know they were being.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Used, but this was the big player open.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, this was the big place.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Is it going to any laws?

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, this is what I don't know. I am this
emphasizing I have no relationship to the tobacco industry. I
don't know what they're doing. I have I'm completely blind
to what they're doing. Well, they're looking.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
At to believe because I know what they're doing, and
you're the minister, so I suspect you know a lot
more than you're letting off. I've been told that this
is going to relaunch because the particular product's been pulled
off the shelves falls foul of your new rules, they
will relaunch and it will be in line with your
new rules.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, and this is what I'm hoping is that we
do get alternate products. This is what I want to achieve.
There's alternate products to get people to stop smoking, and
if the market is available, that there is a demand,
which I think there is, because there are people who
want to quit smoking, and bathing hasn't worked, and the
other tobacco nictine replacement treatments haven't worked. So we're trying

(03:37):
to get these hardcore addicted smokers to.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Have something to me. Okay, you guys have been copying
it in various media outlets for the last few days
over this, and frankly for weeks over the tobacco policy. Right,
perfectly legitimate situation. The explanation that we're getting today makes
perfect sense. But why is this the first that we're
hearing of it? Why aren't you guys fronting on this
and defending yourselves.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well, wait, I have This is the point, and this
is the Health Coalition. They became fixated on the tobacco industry,
not upon what we were trying to do, and I
have been putting this information out. I have been talking
to everyone that will listen. All of the information I've
sent out is include these details around the work we're doing.

(04:22):
And I've been spending all my time dealing with the
people who are trying to get people to quit smoking, providers,
the frontline workers, what tools do they need to get
people to stop smoking? And I will continue to do that.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Okay, see, I appreciate your time, mate, have a good day.
That's Casey Costello, Associate Health Minister.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Gies.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Don't get me started on the health coalition out.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Here or.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Very few people irritate me as much as that lot currently.
We will talk about it sometime For more from the
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