Matariki at Dawn with the Quit Group

Civic Square, Wellington, Speech

Matariki 2011 will leave an enduring memory in the minds of all New Zealanders.

At the dawning of this day, over one hundred rangatahi gathered to issue a unique challenge to the peoples of Aotearoa.

It was a challenge in many forms – in haka, waiata and performance from the students of Te Aute; Hato Paora; Turakina; Wellington High; Nga Mokopuna and Rongotai College.

Yesterday smoke-free youth ambassadors in Blenheim presented their submission to Marlborough District Council; powerfully arguing the case for smokefree public parks; playgrounds, sportsfields, swimming pools and reserves.

They were the same group of ambassadors that performed an auahi kore rap to over 1500 people.

All these methods – and so many more – are the modes of communication which mark out our rangatahi today.

They express the leadership, the passion and the creativity that our young people are distinguished by.

It makes me very proud.

And it is absolutely right that on this day, on the dawning of Matariki, we celebrate the talent and the courage of our young people who are telling the nation that tobacco has no part in our future.

And I want to just share with you a breaking news announcement just in time for Matariki.

I am talking of the Aotearoa Maori Women’s Rugby Sevens – the six time winners of international women’s championships in Hong Kong in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Not content with all of those honours this team of wahine toa, has in the last few days added the Roma 7’s International Women’s title to their success.

One of the most exciting features of this morning, has also been the restoration and representation of the haka of Raureti Mokonuiarangi, a haka which was written in 1883 and just as relevant 128 years later.

So here we are – the stage is set – for a Matariki like no other.

We rejoice in the formidable strength of wahine Maori – who can overcome the pernicious grasp that tobacco has on their lives.

We thrive on the infectious enthusiasm of our young people who encourage us to focus on living full, healthy and enjoyable lives.

And we consider the wisdom and the challenge of the haka passed down over the century; imploring us to stop using tobacco.

Matariki, of course, is the opportune time in our busy lives, to reflect on the year that has fallen, and to plan ahead for the new year.

Throughout the Whanganui and Taranaki region, we recognise the first sighting of Puanga, the star Rigel, as the most significant star in our universe.

From that first sighting, we embrace the sense of optimism that enables us to look towards our future, to feed our spirits and warm the mind.

In earlier times we entered te ara wananga – a period of learning where we might take on new knowledge, learning chants, whakapapa, history, while all the time acknowledging those who have passed on.

We would take on the ritual of Kohi kai – gathering winter foods; welcoming the time of Puanga kai rau – sharing in the abundance of food with one another.

We might fly kites, weave clothes, observe the patterns of the stars, transplant trees and flax.

As the stars of Matariki enter our horizon, we must be ready.

So are we ready? Are we ready to cherish the very essence of life?

Are we ready to eliminate smoking from our lives, as the single leading preventable cause of early death in Aotearoa? Do we really have an alternative?

When I go home to our urupa and I look upon the headstones of whanau members, whanau who have been taken too soon due to smoking related illnesses, it is a painful graphic reminder that we lose 5000 New Zealanders a year to this addiction.

In simple terms, one in every five people over the age of fifteen continue to put their lives at significant risk.

Just last week, ASH released the Year 10 smoking survey results which revealed that even though there had been a decline, some 21% of Maori students smoked regularly.

If we truly care about the future of Aotearoa we must change these statistics; we must take action to help people to quit.

And so I want to acknowledge Amster Reedy – our wonderful MC; Paula Snowden – the Quit Group Chief Executive – and all of the schools who have taken up the call to express the Quit message.

Together, all of you are creating a new tradition for us – you are shaping our expectations that will see Matariki forever associated with a healthy new way of life.

At the level of Government, I am trying my best to support your call – to own the goal to be smokefree. Last year, parties right across the House supported my bill to raise the excise on cigarettes. From April 2010 tobacco excise was raised in three steps of 10% with the last increment to come into force on 1 January 2012.

I am currently focusing on getting my Smokefree Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill through the House. The Bill bans the display of tobacco in shops and provides for instant fines of up to one thousand dollars for any retailer that sells tobacco to anyone under 18.

And when that’s done, I want to get on to “plain packaging” – restricting tobacco companies from using colours, logos and other flashy marketing gimmicks to reach out to young people.

The point behind all of these strategies is to reduce the harm caused by smoking and to stop young people from being tempted into taking up the habit.
I am very proud of these changes because I know that they will make a difference - and so do the tobacco companies – that’s why they have been opposed to the measures. I know it will make marketing smoking as a glamorous past-time, all the more difficult. And if the tobacco barons can’t recruit new smokers then maybe (hopefully) we’ll see these companies pack up and leave.

We have so much to do. But we also have the greatest incentive in the world, to achieve the vision of a smokefree nation in 2025.

We all have a part to play to uphold the challenge of Mokonuiarangi – to shape a future which rejects tobacco in our lives.

Thank you for the inspiration you have given us; the challenges you have presented; and the legacy we are creating, collectively here today to start the new year smokefree.