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But Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who was speaking to the media with the prime minister, were pleased by the journalist’s follow-up question.
“Have you ever had a chat with him? [Peters] about your smoking? The reporter asked as Robertson chuckled.
“Have I ever had a chat with Winston Peters about his smoking? No,” Ardern replied with a laugh.
“I really appreciate that you think that would be the case.”
Peters claimed to have quit smoking in 2017, telling TVNZ at the time: “I realized that my friends in the media were so concerned about my health and fitness that I should take their advice.”
The New Zealand First frontman was filmed smoking on the University of Otago campus earlier this month.
New Zealand has lifted the excise tax on tobacco every year since 2010, raising the cost of cigarettes from around $ 11 for a 20 pack to $ 33 in January 2020. It was launched in an attempt to deter people smoking and achieving the Smokefree 2025 Goal.
“The Government is determined to reduce the horrendous burden of death and disease caused by smoking,” says the Ministry of Health on its website. “The Government has set a long-term goal of reducing the prevalence of smoking and the availability of tobacco to minimal levels, making New Zealand essentially a smoke-free nation by 2025.”
