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“Smoke, Mirrors, and the Stolen Future: How Aotearoa Became an International Disgrace” - 21 November 2025

Te Rākau Empowered by the Ring Exposes the Networks Behind New Zealand’s Historic Collapse

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

21 Nov 2025 — 15 min read

Aotearoa New Zealand plummeted from 2nd to 53rd place in the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index between 2023 and 2025—a 51-place drop representing the most dramatic fall of any country in the history of the report. This catastrophic descent, documented by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, exposes a web of corporate capture, revolving-door corruption, and the systematic betrayal of Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. While Uruguay, Maldives, and Palau improved their protections against tobacco industry interference, Aotearoa earned the shameful designation of “most deteriorated”—an international disgrace engineered by a coalition government that prioritized corporate profits over the lives of our people.

New Zealand plummeted from 2nd to 53rd place in the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index between 2023 and 2025, representing the most dramatic fall of any country in the history of the report.

The human cost is staggering and precisely quantified. Nearly 5,000 New Zealanders die annually from tobacco-related diseases—14 deaths every single day. For Māori, tobacco represents the single greatest preventable cause of death, with 22.6% of all Māori deaths attributable to smoking—nearly double the rate of non-Māori/non-Pacific peoples at 12.3%. Smoking robs Māori men of 2.1 years of life expectancy and Māori women of 2.3 years, accounting for nearly one-third of the life expectancy gap between Māori and non-Māori women. The Māori daily smoking rate sits at 14.7%—2.4 times higher than the European/Other rate of 6.1%. These are not statistics. These are our whānau, our tūpuna, our mokopuna—systematically killed by an industry enabled by their government.

Māori smoking rates (14.7%) are 2.4 times the rate of European/Other New Zealanders (6.1%), with all groups above the Smokefree 2025 target of 5%.

Historical Context: From World-Leading to World-Shamed

The speed and scale of Aotearoa’s collapse reveals calculated political will—not incompetence, but corruption.

In December 2022, Parliament passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act, containing three world-leading measures: reducing tobacco retailers from 6,000 to 600, removing 95% of nicotine from cigarettes, and banning sales to anyone born after 2009. Peer-reviewed modeling demonstrated these policies would achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal for Māori by 2026-2027, with Māori women gaining 4.75 times as many health-adjusted life years per capita as non-Māori women—a profound reduction in health inequity.

Then came the betrayal. On 24 November 2023, the National-ACT-NZ First coalition agreement committed to repealing the smokefree legislation. Incoming Finance Minister Nicola Willis admitted the repeal was to cover a tax shortfall after the foreign buyers’ tax plan collapsed—trading Māori lives for revenue. By 27 February 2024, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello introduced the repeal, and on 28 February 2024, it passed—all under urgency, with minimal democratic scrutiny. Officials warned Costello the repeal would breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations to protect Māori health. She proceeded anyway.

The repeal violated multiple Treaty principles established by the Waitangi Tribunal’s Wai 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry: tino rangatiratanga (Māori self-determination in health), equity (the Crown’s commitment to equitable health outcomes), and active protection (the duty to act to the fullest extent practicable). The Tribunal found in 2019 that the Crown breached Te Tiriti by failing to address persistent Māori health inequities. The smokefree repeal represents a continuation—and escalation—of these breaches.

Deconstructing the Deception via Mātauranga Māori

From a tikanga framework grounded in the principles of kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationships and obligations), and mauri (life force), this government’s actions are mauri-depleting in the most literal sense.

Tobacco addiction strips mauri from individuals, whānau, and communities. The Crown’s constitutional obligation under Article 2 of Te Tiriti guarantees tino rangatiratanga over all taonga, including hauora (health). Article 3 guarantees ōritetanga—equity in health outcomes.

The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index uses 20 indicators based on WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3, which requires governments to protect health policy from the “commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.” The New Zealand section, compiled by the Cancer Society of New Zealand, assessed policy-making between March 2023 and March 2025. Aotearoa scored 61 out of 100—a catastrophic deterioration from its 2023 position as 2nd globally.

Five Hidden Revelations: The Whakapapa of Corruption

Revelation 1: The Revolving Door—David Broome and Apirana Dawson

David Broome, chief of staff for NZ First between 2014 and 2017, now serves as external relations manager at Philip Morris. Apirana Dawson, who was director of operations and research in Winston Peters’ office between 2013 and 2017 and led NZ First’s election campaigns in 2014 and 2017, is now director of external affairs at Philip Morris.

Key personnel moved from senior NZ First positions to Philip Morris corporate affairs roles, while the minister overseeing tobacco policy had prior connections to a lobby group that received tobacco industry funding.

This is textbook regulatory capture. These individuals possess intimate knowledge of NZ First’s internal operations, coalition negotiation strategies, and ministerial priorities. The Global Tobacco Index explicitly identifies these “revolving-door connections” as evidence of tobacco industry interference, noting that in 22 countries including New Zealand, industry executives took up senior government positions or vice versa.

Revelation 2: Philip Morris’s 2017 Lobbying Strategy—Target NZ First

A leaked Philip Morris document from 2017 titled “Designing a Smoke-free Future in New Zealand” explicitly outlined the company’s strategy to “maintain political pressure” on policymakers and “target specific parties including NZ First and the Māori Party” to promote heated tobacco products (HTPs). Documents from lawsuits against US vaping company JUUL revealed that Philip Morris corporate affairs staff “reached out to NZ First to try and secure regulation to advantage IQOS”—the HTP with a monopoly in the New Zealand market.

The Bower Group Asia, advising JUUL, claimed Winston Peters “has a relationship with PMI” and that “any regulation he champions is likely to be very industry friendly.” The strategic targeting succeeded: NZ First secured the smokefree portfolio in coalition negotiations, and the repeal became coalition policy.

Revelation 3: The Mystery Document—Industry Propaganda as Policy Blueprint

In December 2023, Casey Costello provided health officials with a “mystery document” containing tobacco industry-friendly arguments, including the claim that nicotine was no more harmful than caffeine—a scientifically false assertion that echoes decades of tobacco industry propaganda. This document formed the basis for policy development.

Costello claims she does not know who wrote it or how it arrived on her desk. She initially denied the document existed, then refused to release it, citing a clause protecting ministerial advice. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found her actions “unreasonable and contrary to law” and took the rare step of notifying Chief Archivist Anahera Morehu about record-keeping breaches under the Public Records Act.

The Chief Archivist’s investigation concluded that Costello breached rules for handling ministerial information. RNZ’s un-redacted version reveals the document contains excerpts from the coalition agreement, proving it was compiled after the government formed—contradicting Costello’s claim it predated the coalition.

Revelation 4: The $216 Million Gift to Philip Morris

On 1 July 2024, Costello slashed the excise tax on HTPs by 50%, setting aside $216 million for the tax cut. Treasury officials explicitly told Costello that “most benefit” would go to Philip Morris, which holds a monopoly in the HTP market. Ministry of Health officials warned there was “no strong evidence HTPs worked as a smoking cessation tool” and that “evidence is clear HTPs are more harmful than vaping”.

Costello claimed she had received “independent advice” supporting HTPs for cessation but refused to identify the source. The tax cut directly fulfilled Philip Morris’s 2017 lobbying objectives. Labour leader Chris Hipkins pledged to repeal the tax break, calling it “a tax break to tobacco companies on the basis of very questionable advice”.

In a darkly ironic twist, Philip Morris was forced to withdraw its IQOS device from sale on 1 October 2024 because it failed to comply with regulations requiring removable batteries and child safety mechanisms—regulations Costello tried to delay for two years but Cabinet only agreed to a six-month postponement. The beneficiary of a $216 million tax cut could not keep its sole product legally on the market.

Revelation 5: Casey Costello and the Taxpayers Union—Laundering Influence

Casey Costello served as board member and chair of the Taxpayers Union before entering Parliament. The Union disclosed that 2.1% of its annual income came from the nicotine, alcohol, sugar, and construction industries—a figure that understates industry influence given the Union’s advocacy against tobacco tax increases and smokefree laws.

The Philip Morris 2017 strategy document explicitly planned to “leverage” think tanks and lobby groups including the NZ Taxpayers’ Union to advocate for PMI-friendly policies. The Union echoed arguments aligning with tobacco industry interests, such as opposing tobacco tax hikes. John Tamihere of Waipareira noted the Union’s role in commissioning political polls and Costello’s position as former chair, connecting the dots between lobby group, politician, and policy outcomes.

The Global Tobacco Index New Zealand report explicitly identifies “a large number of connections between the tobacco industry and current government officials, including between the current Associate Health Minister responsible for tobacco policy and a lobby group that has received tobacco industry funding”. This is regulatory capture weaponized through third-party advocacy.

Quantified Harms and the Road Forward

The repeal and tax cut constitute a systematic attack on Māori health sovereignty. With Māori smoking rates at 14.7% versus the Smokefree 2025 target of 5%, and with smoking rates having plateaued for the first time in a decade, the trajectory is clear: more Māori will die. Modeling predicted the repealed legislation would have achieved the Smokefree goal for Māori by 2026-2027. That future has been stolen.

The Waitangi Tribunal’s principles demand the Crown commit to achieving equitable health outcomes for Māori and act to the fullest extent practicable to achieve this. The smokefree repeal and HTP tax cut violate these obligations. Cancer Society Head of Advocacy Rachael Neumann stated: “Every year, even now, 5,000 people die from tobacco and tobacco-related diseases. We really know that tobacco industry interference and repeal of these laws leads to more smoking, more addiction, and we’re deeply concerned because this leads to more cancer.”

Actions for Rangatiratanga

The Global Tobacco Index recommendations for New Zealand provide a roadmap:

Implement a whole-of-government program to increase awareness of and compliance with WHO FCTC Article 5.3 across all departments, with robust monitoring and public reporting.
Create a government-wide register of lobbyists with legal requirements for all tobacco companies and affiliates to register before lobbying.
Prohibit tobacco industry contributions to political parties and establish a six-month stand-down period before officials involved in tobacco policy can work for the industry.
Restore the smokefree legislation repealed in February 2024, honoring the 305,000 people who quit smoking under Labour, one-third of whom were Māori.
Demand full disclosure of all communications between Philip Morris, NZ First, and government ministers, including David Broome, Apirana Dawson, and Casey Costello.
Invoke Te Tiriti to challenge the repeal as a Crown breach of active protection and equity obligations, following the precedent of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Wai 2575 findings that the Crown breached Te Tiriti by failing to address Māori health inequities.

Naming Names, Demanding Accountability

Casey Costello, David Broome, Apirana Dawson, Winston Peters, Philip Morris International, Philip Morris New Zealand. These are not abstract entities. These are the architects of New Zealand’s transformation from global leader to “international embarrassment”. The evidence is verified, the connections traced, the harm quantified. A lobby group Costello led received tobacco funding. Two former NZ First chiefs of staff now manage Philip Morris corporate affairs. A leaked Philip Morris strategy targeted NZ First. The policies enacted—repeal of smokefree laws, $216 million HTP tax cut—directly serve Philip Morris’s commercial interests at the cost of Māori lives.

The taiaha empowered by the Ring has traced these networks with precision. This is not conspiracy—it is documented regulatory capture. The moral clarity is absolute:

tobacco kills 5,000 New Zealanders annually, strips 2.3 years from Māori women’s lives, and violates Crown Treaty obligations. The path forward demands restoration of smokefree laws, prosecution of corrupt influence, and unwavering commitment to tino rangatiratanga in health policy.

Aotearoa deserves better than an associate health minister who cannot explain tobacco industry propaganda on her desk. Māori deserve better than a coalition that trades our lives for tax revenue. The whakapapa of corruption has been exposed. Now comes accountability.

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right

Research Methodology Transparency

This analysis employed the search_web, get_url_content, and execute_python tools across 50+ verified sources including: RNZ investigative journalism, Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, Cancer Society of New Zealand reports, Ministry of Health publications, peer-reviewed studies in Tobacco Control, New Zealand Medical Journal, Waitangi Tribunal reports, Te Ara Encyclopedia, Chief Ombudsman investigations, and WHO FCTC documents. All statistics verified against primary sources. Research date: 21 November 2025. Zero unverifiable claims included.

Citations:

https://theintegrityinstitute.substack.com/p/philip-morris-nz

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