Ayesha Verrall contests Winston Peters’ conflict of interest claim about ‘relative’ working on smoking regulation

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters made the claim while speaking under Parliamentary privilege in the House. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour’s health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall is dismissing a claim made by NZ First leader Winston Peters that a “close relative” of Verrall had not disclosed a conflict while working on smoking regulations.

Speaking in Parliament today, Peters linked the alleged conflict of interest to Verrall’s attacks on NZ First’s minister Casey Costello who is leading regulation reform.

Peters made the allegation while speaking under Parliamentary privilege during a general debate speech in the House in which he sought to defend Costello against Verrall’s “ham-fisted attempt at a political hit-job”.

His comments referred to the former health minister this week requesting the Auditor-General investigate the Government’s decision to cut tax on heated tobacco products, claiming signs of “industry influence”.

In his speech, Peters claimed he’d become aware a “close relative” of Verrall’s had attended meetings and had access to papers advising Costello without declaring a conflict of interest.

The relative was related by marriage and was described as a “distant relative” by Labour leader Chris Hipkins.

It was understood the conflict had been declared to the Ministry of Health and Parliament’s health select committee.

Dr Ayesha Verrall was the Health Minister under the previous Labour Government. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In a statement, Verrall said she was “confident” the conflict had been declared.

”Many people who work in politics have relatives in the public sector, that’s the reality of living in a small country like New Zealand. They do their jobs professionally and any conflicts of interest are managed with their individual employers.”

Earlier, Hipkins said Peters should provide further detail to back up his claim.

“The allegation that there’s an unmanaged conflict here, which seems to be what Winston Peters was implying, is a fairly serious one.”

When asked by journalists about it outside the House where he was not protected by Parliamentary privilege, Peters wouldn’t expand on his claim and told journalists to ask Verrall about the matter.

The tension between the pair stemmed from Verrall’s persistent claims Costello as Associate Health Minister responsible for smoking regulation reform was promoting policies that would benefit industry leaders like Philip Morris.

Costello had repeatedly denied companies such as Philip Morris had any involvement in or influence over policy development.

The latest development concerned a $216 million contingency put aside amid a 12-month trial aimed at encouraging smokers to take up heated tobacco products – a market dominated by Philip Morris – to help drive down smoking rates.

Costello argued the heated tobacco products were not as dangerous as cigarettes, something Verrall and some public health officials disputed.

Verrall claimed the contingency would only benefit Philip Morris and alleged the company had advised Costello on the decision.

However, Costello denied the allegation, noting how recently introduced regulations had in fact made it illegal for Philip Morris to sell its currently available heated tobacco products from October 1.

Costello had said she was confident the market would respond and more heated tobacco products would become available.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.