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Source: ONE News -
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Two Christchurch school children have spoken about the devastating effect smoking has had on their lives to a group of politicians investigating the tobacco industry.
The Riwai-Couch family arrived at the hearing armed with a sombre prop, a life size coffin made up of 500 cigarette packets.
Their grandfather, Denis Macdonald, died last year of lung cancer after smoking for more than 50 years.
"He smoked at every breakfast and he had this little machine where he would make a whole pile of smokes for the day," says Brigham Riwai-Couch.
His grandchildren are now determined to make sure his death was not in vain.
"I hope by talking to you today more people do not have to lose people they love in coffins like this one," young Riwai-Couch says.
The committee is considering a raft of options, including banning 'power walls' of cigarettes behind tills in dairies.
Another is to ban tobacco altogether by 2020.
"If it is so bad for people, I don't know why smokes can still be sold in shops," Brigham Riwai-Couch says.
The family were just one of 18 to have their say today.
Imperial Tobacco got the last word on the last day of hearings.
"High cigarette prices from excise duty, increases the opportunity for illicit trade," says Tony Mears from Imperial Tobacco.
But they acknowledge "no cigarette is safe".
The committee will report back to parliament on Maori smoking next month.
But for the Riwai-Couch family, it is too late.
"I really love him and I wish that he never smoked," says grandaughter Mei Riwai-Couch.
