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       New Zealand’s New Government Says It Will Scrap Smoking Ban

       The law, celebrated as a model for other countries, would have eventually made tobacco illegal.

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       New Zealand’s new prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leads a government that is the country’s most right-wing in a generation. Credit...Marty Melville/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Mike Ives and Natasha Frost

       Nov. 28, 2023

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       New Zealand’s new right-wing government has said it will repeal a law that would have gradually banned all cigarette sales in the country over the course of several decades.

       The law, passed by a previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, a prime minister who became an international liberal icon, took effect this year and was celebrated as a potential model that other countries might someday follow. It would have gradually introduced changes in retail cigarette sales and licensing over several years until tobacco could eventually no longer be legally sold in New Zealand.

       By Jan. 1, 2027, the law would have made it illegal to sell tobacco products like cigarettes, to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, according to the government. The law would then have gradually raised the smoking age, year by year, until it covered the entire population.

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       Mike Ives is a reporter for The Times based in Seoul, covering breaking news around the world. More about Mike Ives

       Natasha Frost writes the Europe Morning Briefing and reports on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific from Melbourne, Australia. More about Natasha Frost

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