Press Release – Mana Party
“I’m glad tobacco giant Phillip Morris is planning to take ‘robust action’ against our government’s plan to introduce plain packaging” said MANA leader Hone Harawira “because we all need to see how far these bastards will go to protect …Profits before Health
Press Release
MANA Leader Hone Harawira
Tuesday 12 June 2012
“I’m glad tobacco giant Phillip Morris is planning to take ‘robust action’ against our government’s plan to introduce plain packaging” said MANA leader Hone Harawira “because we all need to see how far these bastards will go to protect their profit margin”.
“The tobacco industry doesn’t give a stuff about New Zealanders health and neither do they have any respect for our right to pass laws to protect New Zealander’s health. All they want is their money, and if that means Kiwis having to die to get it, then let them die …”
“And the tobacco industry’s finances make our nation’s coffers look like the tin at a cake stall. They have spent billions of dollars to fight legal actions in the US and in their lawsuit against the Australian government over plain-packaging, and if we go ahead with our plans they’ll come after us as well”.
“The really sad thing is that our government is about to sign off on a secret Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which will allow the tobacco industry to pick clauses out of other trade agreements we have, which will let them take legal action to stop our government introducing health measures like plain packaging”.
“Despite the warnings that free trade agreements actually work against our best interests, both National and Labour continue to pursue trade agreements which actually weaken our sovereignty as a nation and allow corporate entities like Phillip Morris to stop us from passing legislation in the best interests of New Zealand citizens”.
“The sad thing is that even though Philip Morris admits that smoking kills people, our government is about to sign off a secret deal that will allow Phillip Morris to continue to kill us for generations to come”.
“If John Key has our best interests at heart he will pull us out of the TPPA. If he lets it go through, it will be because he has decided that the international profit margins of the tobacco industry are more important than the lives of the 5,000 New Zealanders who die every year from smoking”.
“Congratulations to Minister Turia for her legislation to increase tobacco prices but maybe it’s time we turned our guns on the killers rather than just the victims”.
ENDS
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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