From Aotearoa to Melbourne: journeys on tobacco policy and Indigenous health
This Early Career Research Travel Award report is written by Dr Christina Heris, Research Fellow in the Tobacco Free Program at Yardhura Walani, the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. Dr Heris has interests in health communications, tobacco control and adolescent health.
In 2024, with the generous support of the NCEPH Scholarships Committee through the NCEPH Early Career Research Travel Award I attended the World Indigenous Cancer Conference in Melbourne and collaborative research meetings in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In late 2022 the team from the Tobacco Free Program at Yardhura Walani—the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research were invited by colleagues at Otago University to travel to Aotearoa and interview key Māori and Pacific public health leaders who had been instrumental in the introduction of world leading tobacco legislation.
This initial fieldwork visit coincided with these laws passing New Zealand parliament and allowed us to capture this significant moment in history that had been driven by community advocacy.
This travel award specifically supported a trip in early 2024 to return data to participants and meet with the study team to prioritise and plan our ongoing work from the research project.
However, following the 2023 New Zealand election and a change of government this trip coincided with the new conservative coalition repealing the tobacco legislation that would have seen a dramatic reduction in tobacco retailers across the country, the sale of only non-addictive tobacco products and a smokefree generation. We were in the gallery at Parliament House for these two moments bookending a policy change the global public health community was watching.
Our subsequent planned presentation at the World Indigenous Cancer Conference in Melbourne had meant to be a good news story about the power of community advocacy to bring about policy change. Māori public health activist Shane Bradbrook, one of the key informants for the study and team member, shared his experience on this long journey including the ways the tobacco industry continues to influence policy.
I am very grateful to the NCEPH Scholarships Committee for supporting the travel for this important project which has facilitated strong, collaborative relationships across the Tasman and ongoing partnership opportunities.