New Zealand MPs fume in row about India's tobacco logo
AFP
11 January 1999
WELLINGTON, Jan 11 (AFP) - New Zealand politicians were Monday fuming
about a health official's hardline over tobacco sponsorship amid
claims the visiting Indian cricket team may be breaching anti-smoking
laws.
Associate Health Minister Tuariki Delamere was taking political
correctness to nonsensical extremes and making his country an
international laughing stock, they charged.
An investigation launched by the health ministry to determine whether
the visitors are in breach of the law by wearing the Wills company
logo, a subsidary of a tobacco company, on their bats and uniforms has
sparked fiery debate.
The centre-right ACT party has joined the centrist United Party in
criticising Delamere for complaining about tobacco sponsorship.
Delamere, an anti-smoking campaigner, said Monday if the team was
breaching the law he expected them to cover up the logos or remove
them.
But United Party leader Peter Dunne criticised the law and said the
government should review legislation banning tobacco sponsorship of
sports teams.
``The whole thing is nonsense. It doesn't achieve it's objective of
curtailing people smoking,'' he said on a Radio New Zealand broadcast.
``All it does is hold us up to ridicule ... I would have thought that
Mr Delamere would have far more constructive things to do at this time
than worry about this sort of rubbish.''
ACT's justice spokeswoman Patricia Schnauer said Delamere was sending
confused signals to young people about smoking.
``Mr Delamere is recorded as being in favour of decriminalising
marijuana,'' she said in a statement.
``At the same time he has objected to the Indian cricket team wearing
the Wills logo. Mr Delamere's pinpricking approach, which means the
Indian cricketers would have to wear a different uniform in New
Zealand than anywhere else in the world, is surely designed to cause
insult to a visiting sporting team. It takes political correctness to
nonsensical extremes.''
New Zealand Cricket is arguing the logos on the Indian team's bats and
uniforms belong to Wills Sports, which produces sports gear and is a
subsidiary of the tobacco company.
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