NZ Minister Denies Asking Ministry About Lowering Tobacco Taxes

Published on February 1, 2024

New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister, New Zealand First MP Casey Costello, was questioned in Parliament today over authorship of a policy paper she sent to the Ministry of Health shortly after taking office. The paper proposed a three-year freeze on tobacco excise, as well as the complete removal of excise tax from smokeless tobacco products, where the tobacco is heated to a vapour rather than burned. She claimed she has no idea who wrote the document and last week told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that she “had no discussions on that at all … it’s not even something I specifically sought advice on. I haven’t looked at a freeze on the excise at all.”...

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