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RNZ News
27 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Vape rule requiring removeable batteries being lifted
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the decision would resolve a current court challenge. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The coalition is revoking the requirement for all vaping devices - including heated tobacco products - to have removable batteries. In a statement published on Thursday, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the decision - to take effect from 1 September - would resolve a current court challenge by Mason Corporation, which owns the vape shop Shosha. "Cabinet was advised that taking this step was the best way to resolve the case," Costello said. "This decision means the proceedings, which relate to regulations brought in by the Labour government, can be withdrawn." Costello said the move was not expected to increase smoking or vaping rates. The announcement does not affect the coalition's move to ban disposable or single-use vaping devices. That ban kicked in from 17 June. The former Labour government announced the requirement for removable batteries in June 2023 as part of a suite of changes to vaping rules. At the time, then-Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said the move would make the devices safer. The coalition later delayed the regulations from coming into effect until October 2024 "to ensure sufficient availability of appropriate reusable vaping products to continue to support people to quit smoking". Photo: 123RF RNZ last year revealed that Philip Morris had pulled its IQOS [ heated tobacco product (HTPs) from the shelves] due to the regulations around removable batteries. That proved to be a major roadblock to the government's controversial trial of halving excise tax on HTPs to encourage their use as a smoking cessation tool. Philip Morris has since released a new compliant IQOS product with a removeable battery. Documents showed Costello had tried to delay the battery regulations for two years, but Cabinet agreed only to a six-month delay from the original date of 21 March. The minister's support for HTPs as a less harmful alternative to smoking provoked outrage from the opposition parties and health experts who labelled it a "dangerous and radical experiment". Treasury identified a long list of concerns about the proposal at the time, but Costello said she relied on "independent advice" to the contrary .
RNZ News
27 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Cafe owner protests Punakaiki parking charges
The DOC carpark at Punakaiki can be packed in summer. Photo: Lois Williams / LDR A Punakaiki café owner is urging the Conservation Department to rethink its plan to charge for parking at the famous Pancake Rocks on the West Coast. Grant Parrett told a meeting of the West Coast Tai o Poutini Conservation Board this week that parking charges create de facto entry fee to (Paparoa) National Park, which was unlawful. Photo: Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has asked for a trial of paid parking to boost revenue. DOC is aiming to launch a pilot programme in October at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and White Horse Hill at Aoraki Mt Cook. Project manager John Dore told the Board that DOC had serious budget pressures including a 30 percent shortfall in funding for its visitor network and a huge deficit in the amount available for biodiversity. "For protection of all endangered species we have a budget of $300 million - but a need of $2.3 billion," Dore said. Climate events in the last few years had added $90 million in costs, he added. Paid parking was a tool used internationally in nature parks and would help manage overcrowding at busy sites, he told the board. But Parrett said the move would turn public conservation land into a Wilsons-style parking lot, and urged the board to oppose it. A business owner says parking fees will disadvantage local people who call in for a coffee. Photo: Lois Williams / LDR "However you label it, it's a National Park entry fee; it contravenes the National Parks Act and it diminishes DOC's social license to operate." There were no free parks at Punakaiki because they had been removed to make room for the new Visitor Centre development and people would have no option but to pay to walk around the Pancake Rocks, Parrett said. Unlike Franz Josef or Aoraki Mt Cook, Punakaiki was not a tourist destination but a stop-off attraction for people driving the scenic Coast Road, and for most of the year there was no congestion or capacity problem in the carpark, he said. "Parking fees will disadvantage local people who call in for a coffee or to stretch their legs, and we don't want this," he said. While DOC owned the land, taxpayers had funded the $45 million Dolomite Point Visitor Centre development and the building was gifted by the last government to manawhenua, NgatiWaewae, who now leased office space back to DOC. The public has paid for this development and costs should be kept low, he said. "I am surprised that the iwi has supported the paid parking trial … unless they stand to benefit from it," Parrett said. If people had to pay for parking they might be less likely to pay for Ngati Waewae's interactive visitor experience inside, he suggested. Ngati Waewae's representative on the Conservation Board, Francois Tumahai, objected. "I disagree with everything you've said. The cost of the building was not $45 million and we're not getting a cent from the project. In the early days we suggested we might provide (parking) wardens … that's it." Parrett suggested it would be good if the iwi put out a statement to that effect in the interests of transparency. The iwi leader responded: "You're the one causing all the grief - you put it out." Board chairperson Dr Mike Legge closed off the discussion and thanked Parrett for his contribution to the public forum. The new visitor centre opened in November 2024. Photo: LDR / SUPPLIED The Dolomite Point Visitor Centre, funded by the Provincial Growth Fund, was budgeted to cost $26 million but the project - including the new carparks - received a funding boost of $15 million in 2023 and cost a total of $40.9 million. The paid parking trial, including charging technology and upgrades to carparks at the three sites, is being funded by $3.8 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. DOC plans to release its pricing strategy early next month and hold public drop-in sessions at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and Aoraki in mid August. Submissions close on August 26 for Punakaiki, and September 30 for Aoraki. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
27 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Polytechs to cut hundreds of courses and jobs
education employment 11 minutes ago Polytechnics are cutting more than 500 courses and nearly a thousand jobs so they can stand alone financially once mega-institute Te Pukenga closes. Education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Charlotte Cook.
