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Health – Vaping threatens smokefree progress, Government must act now, health organisation warns

Source: Asthma and Respiratory Foundation

Policymakers are being urged to confront the harsh reality that vaping is undermining years of smokefree progress – a trend the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ has long warned would happen.
New research – recently published in The Lancet – which looked at trends in smoking prevalence before and after the emergence of vaping in New Zealand among 14-15-year-olds, shows that the rise of vaping has stalled progress in cutting youth smoking rates and deepened inequities for Māori and Pacific teens.
The study analysed the ASH Snapshot Surveys spanning 2003 to 2024, a total of nearly 600,000 Year 10 students, and found that while youth smoking has fallen overall since 2003, progress has stalled since vaping took hold. Māori and Pacific teens – already at greater risk of tobacco-related harm – are disproportionately affected.
Foundation Chief Executive Ms Letitia Harding says the findings prove what public health advocates have long feared: vaping is fuelling nicotine addiction, not ending it.
“This study confirms what we’ve been warning about for years.
“Vaping was promoted as a way out of smoking, but for our rangatahi, it’s become a trap,” she says.
“We’re seeing nicotine dependence take hold earlier and more deeply than before – and it’s reversing progress.”
The Foundation’s nearly decade-long fight against tobacco shows the same industry tactics are now being used to hook a new generation on nicotine, Ms Harding says.
“This isn’t harm reduction – this is harm transfer.”
“It’s time the Government stopped treating it as a less harmful alternative and started treating it as the separate public health threat it is.”
Aotearoa once led the world in tobacco control, Ms Harding says.
“Now, we are watching it slip away.”
The Foundation continues to call for tighter restrictions around vapes.
It wants to see the Government halt the establishment of further Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs), ban the sale of vapes in general retailer stores, limit the nicotine content of all vape products to 20 mg/mL, and re-look at the prescription model.
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Legal Sector Appointments – David Campbell to be the next Law Society President

Source: Law Society

Auckland lawyer David Campbell has been appointed the 34th President of the New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa. His appointment was confirmed at the Law Society’s Council meeting earlier today.
Mr Campbell, a respected leader within the legal community, is a partner at Dentons and has served as Vice President of the Law Society Board since 2022. He also contributes to the wider community as a Trustee of the Spencer Mason Trust and was formerly the Chair of Te Tuhi Contemporary Art Trust. 
He will formally take up the role on 27 March 2026, succeeding current President Frazer Barton, who will complete his three-year term.
Mr Campbell says the aspect of being a lawyer that he most enjoys is solving problems for others. He has been actively involved with the Law Society since 2014 and says he is humbled to take on the presidency.
“This is a pivotal governance role for an organisation that not only regulates over 17,000 lawyers but also advocates for the rule of law and access to justice, supports legal aid reform, and contributes to the health of our democracy,” said Mr Campbell.
“The Law Society is a kaitiaki of an exemplary legal profession – a guardian of standards, ethics, and public trust.”
Mr Campbell says his focus will be on maintaining the Law Society’s core responsibilities while continuing to strengthen its wider contribution to the profession and society. 
“Key is ensuring the Law Society continues to perform its regulatory function well – that’s our obligation under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act. At the same time, we need to keep building on the areas where we already do strong work, such as law reform and advocacy. These functions provide enormous value to society, and it’s essential we maintain and strengthen that contribution.
“Also important is one of the most significant changes at the Law Society in recent years which is the reform of our Representative division. The introduction of a membership subscription has been a particularly positive step – we represent all of the profession, but our more than 10,000 lawyer members are those who truly value what the Law Society offers.”
Mr Campbell says he will be taking on the presidency at a time when the Law Society is in a strong position, with a clear path forward.
“Everything is moving in the right direction. We’re in a state of steady, incremental improvement – and that’s exactly where we need to be.” 
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New Zealand Treasury – Interim Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the three months ended 30 September 2025

Source: The New Zealand Treasury

Thursday, 6 November 2025 – The Interim Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the three months ended 30 September 2025 were released by the Treasury today. The September results are reported against forecasts based on the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update 2025 (BEFU 2025), published on 22 May 2025, and the results for the same period for the previous year.

The key fiscal indicators for the three months ended 30 September 2025 were mixed compared to forecast. The Government’s main operating indicator, the operating balance before gains and losses excluding ACC (OBEGALx), showed a deficit of $4.0 billion. This deficit was $0.5 billion larger than forecast. Whereas net core Crown debt was lower than forecast by $5.2 billion at $184.7 billion, or 42.3% of GDP.

Core Crown tax revenue, at $29.1 billion, was $0.5 billion (1.6%) lower than forecast. The largest variances related to other individuals’ tax and source deductions at $0.3 billion (12.1%) and $0.1 billion (1.0%) lower than forecast respectively.

Core Crown expenses, at $36.4 billion, were in line with forecast.

The OBEGALx was a deficit of $4.0 billion, $0.5 billion more than the forecast deficit. When including the revenue and expenses of ACC, the OBEGAL deficit was $4.1 billion, $0.2 billion higher than the forecast deficit.

The operating balance surplus of $0.8 billion was better than the forecast deficit of $2.4 billion. The variance in OBEGAL mentioned above was more than offset by valuation movements, particularly on financial instruments. Net gains on financial instruments were $4.9 billion stronger than forecast, driven by New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS Fund) and ACC’s investment portfolio reflecting favourable market conditions. However, this was partially offset by net losses on non-financial instruments of $1.5 billion, largely owing to the net actuarial loss on the ACC outstanding claims liability of $1.7 billion.

The core Crown residual cash deficit of $1.4 billion was $1.6 billion lower than forecast. While net operating cash outflows were $0.9 billion higher than forecast, net core Crown capital cash outflows were $2.6 billion lower than forecast. The net core Crown capital cashflows variance to forecast was largely driven by lower than forecast net purchase of investments.

Net core Crown debt at $184.7 billion (42.3% of GDP) was $5.2 billion lower than forecast. The variance was driven by the combination of the favourable variance in net core Crown debt at 30 June 2025 which resulted in a better starting position for the current year, along with the lower than forecast residual cash deficit during the year, as mentioned above.

Gross debt at $213.2 billion (48.9% of GDP) was $7.9 billion lower than forecast. Similarly with net core Crown debt, the majority of this variance comes from a more favourable starting position. The remaining variance predominately relates to lower than forecast issuances of Euro Commercial Paper.

Net worth at $190.0 billion (43.6% of GDP) was $9.4 billion favourable to forecast. In addition to the operating balance variance discussed above, the better net worth starting position from the 30 June 2025 year also contributed.

      

  Year to date Full Year
September
2025
Actual1
$m		 September 
2025
BEFU 2025
Forecast1
$m		 Variance2
BEFU 2025
$m		 Variance
BEFU 2025
%		 June
2026
BEFU 2025
Forecast3
$m
Core Crown tax revenue 29,117 29,588 (471) (1.6) 125,044
Core Crown revenue 32,479 33,065 (586) (1.8) 139,726
Core Crown expenses 36,357 36,306 (51) (0.1) 150,349
Core Crown residual cash (1,362) (3,001) 1,639 54.6 (14,533)
Net core Crown debt4 184,673 189,833 5,160 2.7 200,188
          as a percentage of GDP 42.3% 43.5%     43.9%
Gross debt 213,235 221,124 7,889 3.6 238,816
          as a percentage of GDP 48.9% 50.7%     52.3%
OBEGAL excluding ACC (OBEGALx) (3,955) (3,459) (496) (14.3) (12,075)
OBEGAL (4,084) (3,835) (249) (6.5) (15,602)
Operating balance (excluding minority interests) 791 (2,397) 3,188 133.0 (9,884)
Net worth 190,030 180,673 9,357 5.2 173,224
          as a percentage of GDP 43.6% 41.4%     37.9%
  1. Using the most recently published GDP (for the year ended 30 June 2025) of $436,103 million (Source: Stats NZ).
  2. Favourable variances against forecast have a positive sign and unfavourable variances against forecast have a negative sign.
  3. Using BEFU 2025 forecast GDP for the year ending 30 June 2025 of $456,464 million (Source: The Treasury).
  4. Net core Crown debt excludes the NZS Fund and core Crown advances. Net core Crown debt may fluctuate during the year largely reflecting the timing of tax receipts.
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Unemployment rate at 5.3 percent in the September 2025 quarter – Labour market statistics: September 2025 quarter – Stats NZ news story and information release


This email was sent by Stats NZ, 8 Willis Street, Wellington, CBD 6011, New Zealand to nz@enz.mil-osi.com


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Health – Living with advanced prostate cancer: roadshow highlights treatment advances – and access challenges for Kiwi men

Source: Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand (PCFNZ) is hitting the road this November, with a six-centre programme aimed at helping men living with advanced prostate cancer, and their families, better understand new and emerging options that are improving outcomes, and quality of life.
The Living with Advanced Prostate Cancer: Patient Information Series kicks off in Tauranga (11 Nov), followed by Hamilton (12 Nov), Auckland (13 Nov), Dunedin (18 Nov), Christchurch (19 Nov) and Wellington (20 Nov), and all are FREE to attend.
“Systemic therapy, radiotherapy, theranostics, imaging and new research discoveries over the past decade have transformed outcomes and quality of life for those living with the challenges of metastatic prostate cancer, yet understanding of what they are, how they co-exist, and fit within treatment pathways is still not widespread,” says Peter Dickens, Chief Executive, PCFNZ.
With the assistance of local oncology specialists and nurses, the events will explore this further, and allow health professionals, patients, and whānau to join the conversation and stay informed about the evolving treatment landscape for advanced prostate cancer in New Zealand.
The roadshow takes place against a bleak backdrop for those accessing care for advanced prostate cancer in our public health system. Many of the treatments that will be discussed are only available when sourced privately at costs running in some cases to hundreds of thousands of dollars for patients and families.
“Prostate cancer is now NZ's most diagnosed internal cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men, and yet there has not been a new medicine funded by Pharmac to treat the disease in over 10 years” says Dickens.
“NZ is at the very bottom of the OECD rankings when it comes to medicines funding, behind many demonstrably poorer countries. NZ men are having their lives unnecessarily cut short because of the failure of successive NZ governments to devise and fund a medicines policy fit for purpose for all in our country. This must change.”
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ChildFund – ‘We make no apology for offending you’

Source: ChildFund New Zealand

ChildFund New Zealand has launched two campaigns that some find confronting – Deadly Weapon and Her First Sip.
“We make no apology for offending you. We agree that people should feel shocked and outraged. Children are dying from drinking contaminated water in our region of the Pacific – and this is entirely preventable,” says ChildFund NZ CEO, Josie Pagani.
The ‘Deadly Weapon’ campaign shows a Pacific child pointing a water gun at the camera. 
The ‘Her First Sip’ campaign shows a baby drinking water from a sipper bottle that could be poisoning her. It draws on a fear familiar to many mothers in parts of the Pacific – the fear that when a baby moves from breast to bottle, their first sip could be their last. 
“Imagine facing that possibility” adds Pagani.
Five million people in the Pacific still lack access to clean drinking water.
In the Solomon Islands, approximately one in fourteen deaths of children under five is linked to diarrhoea, caused primarily by dirty water and poor sanitation. 
Only 16 percent of schoolchildren have access to clean, safe water.
Thirty percent of children under five in the Solomon Islands suffer from stunting, meaning their bodies and brains cannot fully develop due to poor nutrition and contaminated water. This is one of the highest rates in the world.
In Kiribati, one in ten deaths of children under five is linked to diarrhoea, and only 27 percent of households have access to clean, safe water.
“The challenges are different in each community – but they are always solvable, and the solutions are cost-effective,” says Pagani.
In the remote Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, ChildFund NZ is working with local partner Greenergy to rebuild a water pump that will serve 3,000 people.
The local ChildFund Kiribati team is installing desalination units to turn seawater into drinking water.
“New Zealand parents take it for granted that we can fill our children’s bottles with clean water from the tap and send them to school. In some parts of the Pacific, children miss school because they must walk for hours to collect clean water,” says Pagani.
ChildFund NZ's partner in the Solomon Islands, Greenergy, knows the risks better than anyone.
“One day my six-year-old niece was in school,” says Sharon Inone, a mother and CEO of Greenergy. “The next, she was gone. Dysentery took her life before anyone could help.”
“We want New Zealanders to be as desperate as we are to prevent these deaths. We can stop children dying now,” says Pagani.
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Health and Politics – Minister must protect the Nursing Council – NZNO

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

The Minister of Health must protect the integrity of the Nursing Council as the regulator for registered nurses, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
The call follows an announcement by the Education Minister Erica Stanford that professional standard setting functions for teachers will be moved from the Teaching Council to the Ministry of Education. The Council will also be reduced from 13 to about seven to nine members with the number of elected teacher representatives halved.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Simeon Brown must reassure nurses that the Government doesn’t have similar plans for the Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa Nursing Council of New Zealand.
“The Nursing Council has a similar make-up to the Teaching Council. It performs invaluable functions such as registering nurses, setting scopes of practice, hearing complaints and setting ongoing competency requirements.
“It’s integrity and functions must be protected. It is also vital that elected nurses remain on the Nursing Council.
“The Coalition Government has form here after Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brook van Velden removed worker representation from the WorkSafe board,” she says.
The changes come at a time when the scope of nurses and nurse practitioners is being threatened by proposed changes to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act, Kerri Nuku says.
“The Health Minister says he values nurses. But the work of nurses’ risks being undermined by the introduction of an anaesthetic technician workforce and the scope of nurse practitioners’ risks being undermined by the introduction of physician associates,” she says.
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Transporting New Zealand supports changes to WoFs

Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

Transporting New Zealand is endorsing proposals from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to reduce the Warrant of Fitness (WoF) frequency for light vehicles, and the CoF A frequency for late-model rental vehicles.
NZTA is currently consulting on reducing the inspection frequency, as well as expanding the scope of the inspection to include checking that Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are working.
“While heavy vehicles are our members’ bread and butter, many also have light vehicles in their fleet,” says Transporting New Zealand Policy & Advocacy Advisor Mark Stockdale. Transporting New Zealand also represents 70 light-vehicle transport companies including trade firms, as part of its membership of over 1,000 transport operators.
“These proposals bring New Zealand more into line with common practice in many other countries, where inspecting vehicles only once every two years is the norm.”
NZTA is proposing that new light vehicles would have their first WoF issued for 4 years (currently 3), while vehicles aged 4-10 years would only require a WoF every two years (currently annual). All light vehicles aged over 10 years would be tested annually, whereas currently only those built from the year 2000-on are, with everything else 6-monthly (except vehicles aged over 40 which are now annual, which was only introduced in September). In addition, light rental vehicles aged under 5 years will only require an annual CoF A inspection (currently 6-monthly).
“New Zealand has the most frequent vehicle safety inspection frequency in the world, with older light vehicles required to be tested as often as every six months,” Stockdale says. “Our closest neighbour, Australia, doesn’t even have a periodic inspection in most states, and neither does Canada. But despite our frequent testing regime, New Zealand’s road toll isn’t any better than those countries with lesser – or no – inspections,” Stockdale adds.
Transporting New Zealand says road crash data shows that vehicle defects are a very small contributing factor to crashes, and NZTA analysis concludes that the cost of our frequent inspection regime outweighs the safety benefits. The consultation document concludes that these changes would benefit 1.6 million light vehicle owners and reduce compliance costs by between $1.6-2.6 billion over a 28-year period.
“These are common sense productivity changes that catches New Zealand up to the rest of the world and will save time and money for businesses and motorists,” Stockdale concluded.
About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter- regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.
Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4,700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion. 
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Appointments – Pita Tipene is new NRC chair, Jack Craw deputy

Source: Northland Regional Council

Northland Regional Councillors have elected Pita Tipene – one of two Te Raki Māori Constituency representatives – as their new chair, with Jack Craw, representing the Whangārei Central General Constituency, elected as his deputy.
Unlike district councils, whose mayors are chosen by the public through local elections, the regional council’s equivalent – its chair – is voted in by councillors.
The election of the chair and deputy was one of the new council’s first formal tasks after councillors were officially sworn in at their inaugural meeting in Whangārei today (subs: Weds 05 November).
Chair Tipene today paid tribute to the council’s former Chair Geoff Crawford for his work over the previous term of council.
Chair Tipene says councillors are a team that will work collectively on behalf of Te Taitokerau to take the region forward over the next three years.
“My immediate goal is to build unity of purpose amongst councillors, council management and staff on behalf of the people of Northland who we serve.”
Chair Tipene says council needs to focus on its core business and where possible work with the region’s three district councils. “Together we can do much, much more.”
Meanwhile, also sworn in at today’s meeting were new councillors Colin (Toss) Kitchen (who will represent the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Constituency and who returns to council after a three-year break), John Hunt (Coastal South General Constituency) and Arama Morunga (the other of council’s Te Raki Māori Constituency representatives).
Joining them in taking their oaths of office were returning councillors Craw, Coastal Central Constituency councillor Amy Macdonald (who is currently in Wellington and was sworn in there today), Joe Carr (Far North General Constituency), John Blackwell (Kaipara General Constituency) and Cr Crawford (Mid North General Constituency.)
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University Research – Vaping contributing to higher rates of smoking in Māori and Pacific youth

Source: University of Otago

Aotearoa’s progress in reducing smoking has slowed for Māori, Pacific and European adolescents, and vaping could be the reason, according to research published today in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Universities of Otago, Auckland, and Sydney, along with the Daffodil Centre in Australia, analysed population-level data from almost 600,000 Year 10 students aged 14–15. The students were surveyed between 2003 and 2024 as part of the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Year 10 Survey.

Using interrupted time series analysis, the researchers compared smoking trends from 2003-2009 (before vaping became common in Aotearoa) with those from 2010-2024 (when vaping became increasingly common).

They found rates of regular smoking among 14-15-year-olds declined significantly for Māori, Pacific, European, and Asian adolescents between 2003 and 2024. However, these declines in smoking slowed for Māori, Pacific, and European youth after vaping emerged in 2010.

A senior author of the research, Associate Professor Andrew Waa from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke, says the findings are especially concerning for Māori and Pacific youth, who already have much higher rates of smoking and vaping than their peers.

“We sometimes hear that e-cigarettes might be a harm-reduction device for Māori and Pacific youth, by reducing or stopping them from smoking.

“Our results show the opposite. Rather than supporting claims that vaping reduces harms for Māori and Pacific youth, vaping has substantially added to them. It has become a major additional source of nicotine dependence, carries its own health risks, and appears to have led to more adolescents smoking.”

In 2024, regular smoking among 14-15-year-olds was approximately 6.2 per cent for Māori, 3.3 per cent for Pacific, and 2 per cent for European adolescents. However, the study found that if each group’s pre-2010 smoking trend had continued, the estimated 2024 prevalences would have been 4.2 per cent for Māori, 1.8 per cent for Pacific, and 0.7 per cent for European adolescents.

A co-author on the paper, Dr Lucy Hardie, a Research Fellow at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland – Waipapa Taumata Rau, says the numbers make the impact clear.

“Our results indicate that, for every 1,000 students, there were 20 more Māori, 15 more Pacific and 13 more European students smoking regularly in 2024 than there would have been if pre-2010 smoking trends had continued.”

Associate Professor Waa says the implications extend beyond biomedical harm and into Indigenous rights and obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and international frameworks.

“Before colonisation, Māori were free from nicotine addiction. Today, nicotine from cigarettes and vapes undermines Māori self-determination by embedding dependence within our communities.”

He says governments have duties under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to reduce health inequities and protect Māori youth from commercial determinants of health.

“Policies that enable easy access to vaping products don’t just miss the mark on health, they also fall short of Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitments and of Aotearoa’s international obligations to address inequities affecting Indigenous peoples.”

Waa says urgent action is needed to align government policy with these obligations.

“We should be closing the door on all sources of nicotine dependence, not opening new ones. Protecting Māori youth is an obligation under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and protecting all young people is a core public health responsibility.”

Notes:

The research paper, ‘Trends in smoking prevalence before and after the emergence of vaping in Aotearoa/New Zealand among 14-15-year-olds identifying as Māori, Pacific, European, or Asian: an interrupted time series analysis of repeated cross-sectional data, 2003-2024’ is published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. A companion explainer will be published in The Conversation and will be live at this link when the embargo lifts: https://theconversation.com/vaping-is-slowing-progress-in-cutting-teen-smoking-rates-in-nz-widening-inequities-for-maori-and-pacific-youth-267851