According to a report from Newstalkzb on August 21st, the New Zealand government has intervened after police were exposed for deliberately not enforcing laws prohibiting smoking and using e-cigarettes in vehicles with children.
New Zealand media NZME previously reported that since the law came into effect in 2021, the police have not issued any fines.
The police stated that fines serve as a punishment and are unlikely to be effective.
In addition, official information requests show that since November 2021, the police have issued 185 warnings but no fines.
The police stated that this is because they prioritize a "health-first" approach, and have never updated their systems to allow for issuing fines.
This law was passed in 2020 by the coalition government led by the Labour Party and was supported by the National Party. The law allows New Zealand police officers to decide whether to issue an on-the-spot fine of $50 New Zealand dollars ($30.7 USD).
Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking, a New Zealand radio presenter, that when the law was passed, the police advised the then Police Minister that the system could not support this change.
He said that the police are currently making changes to their system in order to issue tickets.
New Zealand Labour Party MP Ginny Andersen stated that, to her knowledge, there is a phased implementation plan in place despite knowing that the police cannot immediately enforce the law, and the government is satisfied with this.
She expressed her happiness that Mitchell has enforced this law and taken action, as the current government has been too lenient on smoking issues, relaxing smoking bans.
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