We reported recently on coalition government partner NZ First Ministers’ connections to the Atlas Network and the tobacco industry. We even saw the NZ First Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello accused of inserting tobacco industry talking points into policy by her own officials.
Now RNZ is reporting:
NZ First Minister Shane Jones says he’s not interested in the rules ministers have to follow when engaging with people from the tobacco industry.
Jones is among government ministers whose links to the tobacco industry have been questioned, after New Zealand First gained concessions in its coalition agreement with National to repeal recent changes to tobacco laws.
Philip Morris external relations director Api Dawson – a former NZ First staffer – attended Jones’ swearing-in ceremony last year. And Jones has said Dawson was involved in “soundings” about the party’s tobacco policy.
Jones said “I have talked to industry, the coal industry, the mining industry, the tobacco industry, the agricultural industry,” and that he could not remember “at a detailed level” what soundings he took from Dawson but that he did not receive any written material.
Jones appears to admitted breaching New Zealand’s commitments under international agreements designed to limit undue tobacco industry influence in our politics:
New Zealand is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It includes a clause that obliges its parties to protect policy from tobacco industry influence and be completely transparent in its dealings with the industry.
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Asked on Wednesday if he believed he had complied with the convention, Jones said: “Unless it was the Cabinet Manual, I don’t know anything about it and I’m not giving it one iota of attention.”
His position appears to be at odds with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. In a written statement issued before Jones’ comments, a spokesman for Luxon said the government “was well aware of its obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is confident in the processes it has in place to ensure compliance”.