tobacco control update

This week we introduce Selah Hart, our new Chief Executive Officer. Selah grew up in Blenheim and has whakapapa links to Ngāti Kuia, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Apa Ki Te Ra To and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa.

Selah is a well-known face in Māori public health, having worked for Hāpai for nearly ten years in a variety of roles. This depth and breadth of experience at Hāpai has positioned Selah to take the organisation, which has a proud twenty year history of delivering public health services, into the future.

Katerina has recently joined the Hāpai whānau for placement as part of the Social Work degree she’s studying towards at Unitec. She’ll be supporting us over the next few months with developing compassionate and progressive smokefree policies. We feel really grateful to have such a strong, intelligent wahine Māori join our tobacco control team.

Dr Wodak is a physician and was the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, at St Vincent's Hospital, in Sydney, Australia from 1982 to 2012. He began advocating for drug law reform in 1987. Wodak is President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and was President of the International Harm Reduction Association. 

Te Mania Kapa currently works as a quit coach at Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi and is passionate about enabling rangatahi to lead smokefree, healthy lives.

Tasha Hohaia is of Ngāpuhi descent, a dynamic leader who set out to be a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 2013.  In 2017 she stood in the NZ General Elections as a Māori Party Candidate for Manurewa. This year she attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, compelling her to look at systemic shifts and changes needed in NZ.

As we draw closer to Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 it is timely that we include a round up of what’s happening on the Pacific Tobacco Control front.
 

Tairāwhiti community are demonstrating leadership to their council in creating smokefree spaces. Tairāwhiti council's new draft Smokefree Outdoor Area Policy (SFOA) designates parks, playgrounds, and ‘destination’ beaches (Midway, Waikanae, Kaiti, Wainui and Okitu) as smoke-free.
 

Fay Selby- Law has been a pillar in the smokefree sector in Manawatu for multiple decades, chanelling her energy and comittment to supporting whānau, particularly wahine and māmā, in becoming smokefree. 

Fa'afetai i le avanoa. Malo fetalai po'o le saonoa. Fa'afetai i le alofa o le Atua, ua tatou feiloai i luma le nuu ae le o tua o nuu. Ia ave le viiga i le Atua, O'a paia o Samoa, o le a le o'o i'ai sau leo. Ai nuunuu atu i faleupolu o le latou matafaioe lena, aua faigata Samoa o le ao mamala. Talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings, my name is Lealailepule Edward Cowley

Boyd Broughton is a name we have seen regularly over the past few years in tobacco control. Boyd is a Programme Manager for ASH New Zealand and is an active family man. Boyd has been a long time tobacco control advocate and we thought it would be great to get know Boyd just that little bit more. We asked him a few questions and here is what Boyd had to say...

Pepeha:

Ko au tētahi o ngā uri ō Te Ramaroa, Taupiri Maunga, Hikurangi Maunga hoki.