Maori Smokefree coalition to confront tobacco giant

The cigarettes being sold by Philip Morris in Israel.

Two Maori Smokefree Coalition representatives plan to confront tobacco giant Philip Morris in New York on Thursday over what they say is abuse of Maori culture.

The planned action is in response to a New Zealander's discovery late last year of cigarettes being sold in Israel branded "Maori Mix", with packaging that included Maori designs.

Coalition director Shane Bradbrook and the organisation's youth advocate Skye Kimura will join international advocate group Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control (Gptc) to confront a meeting of Philip Morris' parent company, Altria.

"We'll be presenting them with a statement about the Maori Mix debacle last year, and talking more broadly about the way tobacco kills our people," Mr Bradbrook said today.

Altria is holding board meetings both in New York and New Jersey, and Gptc have planned a mass convergence on both.

Mr Bradbrook said he understood it would be the first time an indigenous group faced a tobacco company in such a way.

"It's part of our broader strategy in the war against tobacco," he said. "This is the biggest killer of our people and we want to take a more aggressive approach."

Mr Bradbrook said the organisation had in the past targeted Maori iwi to get the message across about the dangers of smoking, but it was time to tell the industry to stop pushing its product to Maori people.

The Maori Smokefree Coalition said there was an immediate retraction and apology from Philip Morris when the company was contacted about the issue in December and further action was still being considered.

The organisation said the percentage of Maori people who smoked was five times higher than that of Europeans and the habit was the biggest killer of Maori.

- NZPA