Hollow claims

The National - ACT - NZ First Government insists it will drive down smoking rates despite repealing the Smokefree Act. Its assertions ring hollow.

Its finance minister has said repealing the legislation will yield "about a billion dollars" in additional revenue from tobacco tax. That billion dollars can only come from smokers spending billions of dollars more on tobacco products than they would without the repealing of the legislation.

The equation is clear: more tax, more spending, more smoking.

Ross Boswell, Riccarton