New Zealand: U-turn on smoking ban causes outcry. New Zealand's Conservatives have announced that they will overturn the planned smoking ban. Health experts and indigenous people are now sharply criticizing this decision. By 2025, the country was supposed to be largely smoke-free. The move, the coalition, which also includes the populist NZ First party, wants to finance tax cuts.. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand. The Pacific state passed a landmark bill late last year to ban smoking for people born after 2009.