Progress, setbacks and changing perception of the possible: reflections on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s changed political landscape and tobacco policy plans

In November 2023, the global public health community was shocked to learn the incoming Aotearoa/New Zealand government intends to repeal the country’s world-leading Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (SERPA).1 Twenty years after the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) propelled widespread adoption and acceleration of effective tobacco control measures,2 3 and approaching 60 years since the landmark US Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, Aotearoa/New Zealand stood at the vanguard of a new era of policy innovation towards the tobacco endgame.