Casey Costello breached rules for handling ministerial information by giving a tobacco industry-friendly document to health officials for policy development - without knowing its author or origin.
An investigation by the chief archivist, which began in November last year, found theNew Zealand First Associate Health Minister failed to comply with the Public Records Act.
But the inquiry has still not revealed who wrote the “mystery document”, which argued for tax cuts for Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) and claimed nicotine was no more harmful than caffeine.
“Neither the Associate Minister nor the minister’s office staff had been able to confirm who had written tobacco policy notes that were held in the minister’s office in paper form and used for ministerial purposes,” chief archivist Anahera Morehu said.
Anahera Morehu found that Casey Costello failed to comply with the Public Records Act. Photo / Supplied
She told Costello that “in the case of the tobacco policy notes, you and your office did not meet the requirement” of the Public Records Act to create and maintain full and accurate records.
“The absence of information about the source of the notes, which contributed to policy formation, diminished their value as records for enabling government accountability.”
Morehu recommended Costello’s office seek help from Ministerial Services to improve record-keeping and report back within three months on her actions.
A spokesperson for Costello told RNZ the minister had stated numerous times the document was a collation of previous NZ First policy positions and it was only received as a hard copy.
‘Ridiculous’
“My focus is, and always has been, on getting more people to stop smoking, by providing better tools and support to help people quit. It’s ridiculous, and wrong, to continue to try and link this approach to being pro-tobacco,” she said.
“The policy settings that saw the dramatic fall in New Zealand’s smoking rates in the last few years, including allowing access to lower-harm products such as vapes, have been maintained by this government. We support policies that work.”
Costello said the document was given to her in hard copy on December 6, 2023, just after she took up the Associate Health portfolio, with responsibility for tobacco and vaping policy.
The document described the previous Labour government’s smokefree policies as “ideological nonsense that no other country had been stupid enough to implement” and said New Zealanders were “guinea pigs in their radical policy experiment”.
It also argued strongly for tax breaks for heated tobacco products (HTPs).
“Smokeless tobacco is a vaping product, it does not combust and should not be taxed like combustible cigarettes, but instead like other vaping products that are not subject to excise.”
Costello said she did not know who wrote the document or even who left it on her desk.
In July 2024, Costello reduced the excise on HTPs by 50%, in what was initially pitched as a one-year trial subject to an evaluation.
Tax cut despite health advice
In July this year, she said the evaluation would now be done in July 2027 and the reduced tax rate on HTPs would apply at least until then.
Treasury estimated the HTP tax cut would cost up to $293 million if continued until 2029 - a forecast that included the impact of the Government collecting less in excise if smokers were encouraged to switch to HTPs.
Costello cut the tax on HTPs despite health officials saying there was no strong evidence either that they worked as a smoking cessation tool or that they were significantly safer than cigarettes.
Treasury said Philip Morris had a monopoly in the HTP market in New Zealand and would be the main beneficiary of the move.
