Fight smoking, Maori leaders told

Maori leaders must take greater responsibility for cutting Maori smoking rates and not just chasing Treaty of Waitangi settlements, says a smoking lobbyist.

Maori Smokefree coalition head Shane Bradbrook will deliver this message at a hui - Te Ao Maori, Te Ao Auahi Kore (Maori Environment, Smoke Free Environment) - starting in Wellington today.

"Smoking is the single biggest killer of our people. It's about time our leaders joined the battle against this genocide," said Mr Bradbrook.

More than 120 international and local experts and Maori health providers are expected to attend the event at Te Papa.

Mr Bradbrook said a third of all Maori deaths were caused by smoking - 650 to 1000 each year - and Maori had one of the highest smoking rates in the world.

"You hear all the rhetoric around land issues - which is all well and good - but you rarely hear our leadership saying 'hey we have some serious health issues'."

He called for leaders to introduce mandatory smoking bans on marae.

While Maori smoking rates dropped by 5 percentage points last year, nearly half continue to smoke.

Ngati Porou chairman Api Mahuika said smoking rates were declining on the East Coast, partly because of leadership initiatives.

But Mr Mahuika, who stopped smoking nine years ago, said it was not helpful to single out Maori leaders. "There are many leaders in Ngati Porou, many of our leaders don't smoke, and many of our people have stopped because of this," he said.

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples supported the call and urged Maori leaders to take greater responsibility for high smoking rates among their people.

"We must lead by example. We can start by placing a rahui [ban] on smoking at our marae."

Dr Sharples said it was still socially acceptable to smoke among Maori, a situation that must change

"Smoking isn't acceptable, it kills. I stopped smoking after 40 years because of whanau. My moko said to me 'we don't want you to die'. That did it for me."

He said while many iwi and hapu organisations were prepared to accept Government funding for health initiatives, they played lip service to addressing one of the key killers of Maori - smoking. Tainui chairman Kingi Porima supported the call, and was shocked by the deadly statistics.

"If one third of our people are being killed through cigarettes then we must do all we can."

Mr Porima said his home marae in Kawhia had become smoke free, a decision reached by the members.

"Leaders can support initiatives, but it is up to the individual marae to make decisions affecting their marae."