In a follow-up to a recent article, journalist Guyon Espinar has written that new "rules of engagement" between Manatū Hauora / the Ministry of Health and the alcohol industry are being prepared by the MOH.
In May RNZ reported that a manager with the Ministry of Health's Public Health Agency had engaged closely with alcohol lobbyists and among other things, references to a review of safe drinking guidelines were removed from a Health New Zealand website after an alcohol lobbyist complained about it.
85 pages of documents obtained via the Official Information Act show the alcohol industry has had input into policy development in Aotearoa New Zealand, including managing FASD and spending the Alcohol Levy, a $16 million fund to reduce alcohol harm, estimated in a 2024 report by NZIER to cost $9.1 billion a year (FASD alone was estimated to cost the country more than half of this figure). "Thanks for sharing the draft FASD plan," a wine lobbyist says in an email to public health officials.
In contrast, tobacco lobbyists are shut out of policy making because New Zealand is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which protects policy development from the "vested interests of the tobacco industry" as there is an "irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interests".
Dr Claire Mills, a senior advisor with the Public Health Agency, said that she felt the tone of the tone of the emails was "way too friendly".
In response, Deputy Director-General of Health Andrew Old had now said stronger processes for health officials engaging with the alcohol industry were being prepared.
