Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Inquiry pushed to ask Govt why Maori still smoking

Updated at 9:28 pm on 9 March 2010

A Maori tobacco researcher says the Maori Affairs Select Committee inquiry into smoking needs to ask why successive governments have done nothing to help Maori to quit.

Dr Marewa Glover has been running anti-smoking campaigns and research for almost two decades.

She says governments have sat by and watched Maori die, despite a succession of national hui highlighting the problem, Waatea News reports.

"We know what it does to marae, we know its killing our elders," she says. "The inquiry needs to be asking why the Government hasn't done something more effective to stop the harm."

Dr Glover says more campaigns driven by Maori are needed to fix a situation where one in two Maori are still smoking.

Do more - Labour party

Labour Party leader Phil Goff says the government is not doing enough to target smoking among Maori.

He told Waatea News the select committee inquiry into the tobacco industry and the effects of smoking on Maori is an important step in addressing a major public health issue.

But he says young Maori women in particular are not getting the message that smoking is harmful.

Smoker chairs

Meanwhile, committee chair Tau Henare says having the occasional cigarette will not stop him from being part of the inquiry.

The National MP told Waatea News Maori should feel proud the select committee is the first government body to call to the industry to account.

Mr Henare says despite his habit he is keen to be part of any initiative that reduces smoking harm in Maori communities.

The select committee has been hearing submissions in Rotorua. It is also sitting in Auckland this week, and Christchurch, in an investigation that could take up to six months.

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