Finance Minister Nicola Willis insists she and the new government want to see fewer people smoking, despite relying on smokers to fund planned tax cuts. The new government's scrapping of these initiatives saw critics on social media over the weekend dub the deputy National Party leader 'Nicotine Willis', and Health Minister Shane Reti, 'Shane Cigareti'. Asked on RNZ's First Up if Willis was "happy to endorse" the current death toll from smoking, she said "absolutely not". Combined cyclone / emergency roleWillis also talked about the lack of a cyclone recovery minister in the new Cabinet, which disappointed some hard-hit East Coast residents. "We've combined those two roles into the emergency management and recovery minister, and you can expect to see Mark engaging heavily with the communities affected by flooding and cyclone events."

Source: Stuff November 28, 2023 08:53 UTC