In this instance it seems to be adapting a Save Our Shop campaign used to lobby British MPs in 2008 when Big Tobacco was concerned about the impact of restrictions on tobacco promotion in stores.
Big Tobacco was less than upfront about its involvement in the campaign and some MPs were upset they had been sucked in by it.
Now it has been revealed it has been involved in the Save Our Stores campaign showing up on Facebook here which asks people to sign a petition repealing the Smokefree 2025 Act.
While it looked as if the campaign was an initiative from store owners, in the small print it was clear the website was being provided by tobacco companies.
The concern of Big Tobacco is the plan to reduce the number of shops selling full strength tobacco from 6000 to 600 across the country by July next year.
Among the scaremongering posters being promoted in conjunction with the campaign are ones saying the law change could hand more power to gangs, increase ram raids and cost us up to $1.8 billion in higher taxes. One also claimed tobacco taxes paid for 35,000 police officers, even though, as RNZ’s excellent reporting explained, we have about 11,000 police officers now and tobacco tax goes into a consolidated fund rather than one earmarked for specific purposes.
The dairy owner who was supposedly the driving voice behind the campaign, according to the tobacco companies, could not be interviewed because he reserved his right to privacy. It was not exactly the attitude you would expect from someone fronting a campaign. His picture was later removed from the campaign website.
The Dairy and Business Owners Group has distanced itself from the Save Our Stores website. It has concerns about coming changes but is making its voice known through official channels.
The questionable campaign also suggests more than 6000 shops rely on tobacco sales for up to 55% of their revenue. This is at odds with university research on what people are buying at dairies. In Dunedin, for instance, a survey of dairy shoppers found only 14% of them bought tobacco.
Unfortunately, since Big Tobacco is also involved in the vaping business, we will need to continue to be vigilant about its influence there.
Given the decades of practice Big Tobacco has had at smoke and mirrors about the damage from its products, perhaps we should be reassured its involvement in the Save Our Stores campaign seems so inept . Its continued arrogance, like its products, is breath taking.
And another thing
The Government will have breathed a sigh of relief nurses working for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand decided to settle their collective agreement and called off this week’s 24-hour strike.
It would not have been a good look to have nurses revolting as the country heads into an election campaign.
Not that all is sweetness and light in the sector, despite the collective agreement deal and the recent historic pay equity settlement.
There is muttering about some nurses taking their lump sums and heading across the Ditch, and issues of safe staffing/short staffing are still some way from being resolved. It will not be long before the nurses will be back into collective agreement negotiations because the new agreement expires in October next year.
There is also the issue for those nurses working in the community and rural settings who do not attract the same pay as their HNZ counterparts. No-one could blame them for feeling frustrated and under-appreciated.
It is hard to understand why it is taking so long to address this issue which is well known and not new. It needs urgent attention.
