Public health in New Zealand has battled against smoking and tobacco for decades. Governments of all descriptions have pursued and progressed policies that sought to reduce the harm and the deaths that come from smoking-related diseases inflicted on our communities. Today, we write the next chapter of that story, because although we've greatly reduced smoking rates in Aotearoa New Zealand, we still have around 5,000 people who die each year from smoking-related diseases. We know that Māori and Pacific people are disproportionately represented in this fatal cohort. 