The new administration in New Zealand has announced its intention to revoke the country's globally renowned smoking ban in order to finance tax cuts.

The law, initiated during the previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, had aimed to prohibit the sale of cigarettes to individuals born after 2008 starting next year.

Smoking, a major contributor to preventable deaths in New Zealand, was targeted by the policy to discourage the younger generation from adopting the habit.

The abrupt reversal of this legislation has faced strong criticism from health experts. Professor Richard Edwards, a tobacco control researcher and public health expert at the University of Otago, expressed dismay, stating that the government's action is a regressive step away from the world-leading health measures in place.

Numerous health groups in New Zealand have voiced their disapproval and urged the government to reconsider its decision, emphasizing the negative impact on the progress made.

The internationally acclaimed legislation, passed last year, included measures such as limiting the number of tobacco retailers and reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes.

Research models supporting these reforms suggested that the Smokefree laws could potentially save up to 5,000 lives annually. New Zealand's pioneering laws even inspired the UK government to announce a comparable smoking ban for young people in September.

Despite the reversal in New Zealand, a spokesperson confirmed that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's stance on the matter remains unchanged.

While it has been praised as a public health policy, the Smokefree measures drew opposition from some business groups in New Zealand. Owners of newsagents and corner shops criticized the loss of revenue - even with government subsidies.

Some lawmakers - including the new Prime Minister Chris Luxon - also argued a ban would lead to a black market for tobacco.

However, his National party, which won 38% of the vote in the 14 October election, hadn't mentioned the Smokefree laws during election campaigning. The announcement by the new finance minister Nicola Willis on Saturday that the government would repeal the laws shocked health experts who believed the policy would be untouched.

But Ms Willis said National's partners in the governing coalition- the populist New Zealand First and libertarian Act - had been "insistent" on reversing the laws.

Despite election victory, the center-right National Party has struggled for weeks in policy negotiations to form a government with the two minor parties.

A deal was only agreed to on Friday, six weeks after the election, allowing the new government to be sworn in on Monday. New Zealand First - which won 6% of the vote - had been the only party to campaign on repealing the smoking laws.

Both minor parties blocked a flagship National policy to open up foreign property ownership - which the party had been relying on to fund tax cuts for middle and higher-income earners. Ms Willis said on Saturday that had led to the party looking elsewhere.

"We have to remember that the changes to the Smokefree legislation had a significant impact on the government books, with about a billion dollars there," she told New Zealand broadcaster TV3's Newshub Nation.

The laws still need to be actively repealed through parliament, where the government has a majority.

"The suggestion that tax cuts would be paid by people who continue to smoke is absolutely shocking," Emeritus Prof Robert Beaglehole, chair of New Zealand's Action for Smokefree 2025 committee told Pacific Media Network.

A national Māori health organization, Hāpai Te Hauora, called it an "unconscionable blow to the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders".

Smoking rates, and associated disease and health issues, are highest among New Zealand's indigenous Māori population, for whom experts had said the policy would have the most positive impact.

"The government is flying in the face of public opinion and obviously in the face of the vast majority of people who work in this field, health professionals, doctors, nurses," said Prof Edwards.

Public health modeling conducted in 2022 had shown the Smokefree policy would have saved New Zealand's health system about NZ$1.3bn (£630m; $790m) over the next 20 years.

New Zealand still aims to reduce its national smoking rate to 5% by 2025, with the aim of eventually eliminating it altogether.

More than 80,000 adults have quit in the past year, its national data shows. Currently, about 8% of its adult population smokes.

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