One of the Associate Health Minister’s top officials has slammed the evidence Casey Costello used to justify giving heated tobacco products a tax cut.
In internal emails seen by 1News, Ministry of Health chief advisor of epidemiology, Fiona Callaghan, described the Associate Health Minister’s information as selective, out of date, and some of it “crap”.
In July Costello said the Government would set aside $216 million it may need to pay for a 50% cut to the excise tax on heated tobacco products.
Costello got independent advice that she said showed heated tobacco products will help people quit cigarettes.
The Ministry of Health’s chief adviser epidemiology reviewed the Minister’s independent evidence – five documents in all.
In internal emails, Callaghan told her colleagues that one was OK, and another good but now well out of date.
“It’s not so much that all of the studies are crap…” she also wrote.
“It’s more that it is a small number of selective research, not up to date, and certainly don’t form any sort of robust evidence review and don’t represent current evidence.”
She was critical of one opinion piece presented by the minister.
“The author conflates e-cigarettes with tobacco products like snus and heated tobacco products… with no justification. There is no evidence the snus or heated tobacco products are used of effective for smoking cessation.”
Callaghan pointed out some of the data cited in one study was provided by the tobacco company Philip Morris.
But Costello told 1News the emails show “yet again, officials undermining the Government’s harm-reduction approach to reducing smoking rates”.
“I have spoken to the Director-General about the importance of maintaining public sector standards of integrity and political neutrality,” she said in a statement.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson told 1News the official’s comments “were from an internal exchange of emails and were not an official Ministry position”.
“The comments were not a comprehensive assessment of the evidence base of smoking cessation tools. The Ministry remains committed to supporting the Government’s harm minimisation approach to achieving the Smokefree 2025 goal, and continues to monitor emerging evidence in order to best achieve a smokefree New Zealand,” a statement read.
“The impact of the excise reduction from 1 July will be reviewed within 12 months of this change and will be an important addition to the knowledge base.”
‘A $200 million-plus tax cut’
When asked if he believed the quality of information brought to Cabinet by Costello was up to scratch, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon maintained the minister was “very, very focused on making sure she lowers daily smoking rates and delivers on Smokefree 2025”.
But Labour leader Chris Hipkins said there is “absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is going to reduce smoking”.
“It’s a $200 million-plus tax cut to the country’s biggest tobacco company,” he said.
“Costello seems to have found some other random material on the internet which nobody seems to think stacks up so I think this was very poor decision-making from whoa to go.”
Hipkins added that the minister “is making the whole Government look foolish”.
“The fact Christopher Luxon is not willing to do anything about that is an indictment on his leadership.”
