Tony Ryall has, once again, taken the moral low road and is refusing to ban cigarette displays in shops despite evidence that cigarette displays increase teenage smoking. This in a week that a similar ban was announced in Northern Ireland, joining bans in Ireland, Canada, England, Wales, much of Australia… oh shall I just call it “most of the developed world”?
Why does this matter? (Other than caring about the lives and health of New Zealanders)
- National is, once again, picking the tobacco industry over people’s lives and health
- National is, once again, choosing the moral wrong for the employers and owners’ benefit
- National is, once again, showing the signs of a party financially entangled with the tobacco industry.
In case you don’t have a copy of The Hollow Men to hand, I offer you some highlights:
- Matthew Hooton, long time National mouthpiece, ex-National staffer and National lobbyist has done private pro-tobacco PR work and lobbying. His work was used by Rodney Hide to attempt to stall anti-tobacco legislation.
- British American Tobacco’s chief lobbyist is a significant National Party donor and has been invited to caucus parties.
- Key’s political advisors, Crosby|Textor, name British American Tobacco as a client of Mark Textor.
Sweet eh, politicians and industry working hand-in-hand – that must be the “pragmatism” John Key talks about.