The Cabinet has backed a raft of tobacco reforms that include removing displays in shops and providing for instant fines for those caught selling to minors.
The proposals were announced a day after the Maori affairs select committee tabled measures aimed at making New Zealand smokefree by 2025.
Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia yesterday said smoking "cast a long shadow of death and disease" and the changes were a strong step in reducing its threat.
"There is still so much to be done, but I'm more confident than ever that we can reach the goal of New Zealand being a nation free of tobacco," she said in a statement.
The Cabinet, whose decisions were confirmed last week but announced yesterday, also recommended the Government monitor Australia's plans to have plain packaging of tobacco products by 2012 and explore making similar moves here.
University of Otago tobacco marketing researcher Prof Janet Hoek said the reforms recognised retailers should not promote products that were toxic and undesirable.
But the Government needed to do more: instead of monitoring plain packaging reforms, it should act urgently to develop legislation in parallel with what was proposed in Australia.
"We know that packaging has connotations such as of relaxation, of achieving dreams, and we should be acting to remove them," Prof Hoek said.
"This requires the political will, but it is backed by science, it is backed by empirical evidence, and it is backed by public opinion. What more do the politicians need?"
ASH New Zealand director Ben Youdan was delighted so-called "powerwalls" would be banned in what anti-smoking campaigners hoped would "be the beginning of the end for tobacco in New Zealand".
He welcomed moves to increase enforcement and remove industry rebates that incentivised retailers to sell tobacco, but urged the Government to turn monitoring Australia's plain-packaging reforms into action.
"This is a very good start, but there is plenty of work to do if we truly want to be smokefree. Polls tell us 75% of people supported moves to remove tobacco displays, so the will is there," he said in an interview.
Otago retailers contacted yesterday were surprised by Cabinet's lightning-quick response to issues raised with the Maori affairs select committee.
Night 'n Day convenience stores general manager Andrew Lane said having tobacco products stored off-display in the brand's 28 stores might not affect sales, but it would be a massive inconvenience that could introduce new security concerns as staff fumbled beneath counters or in back rooms.
"I understand governments in other countries are considering whether removing tobacco even makes a difference in smoking rates. But, we'll always abide by the law."
Dunedin tobacconist and devout non-smoker Selwyn Grave, who has worked around colourful cigarette boxes for 56 years, did not think "product placement" induced people to smoke.
Removing displays might stop "impulse buys" at supermarkets, but tobacconists should be exempt from the non-display rules.
"Tobacconists specialise in tobacco products, so I can't see how a display advertising the fact influences a customer who is already on the premises to buy it."
Smoker Raoul Hobbs (20) said hiding the product would do little to dissuade people who already smoked, and plain packaging would be more discouraging to brand-conscious smokers.
Elena Berg (23) said some young people were attracted by smoking's "social" image. New rules might make it more appealing.
A British American Tobacco New Zealand spokeswoman could not be contacted yesterday, but the country's biggest tobacco supplier told the Maori affairs select committee in January that it supported increasing punishment for people who sold tobacco to minors.
This week, it said the select committee's recommendation to phase out tobacco by 2025 was prohibition in all but name.
The committee also wanted to have tobacco products sold in plain packaging, reduce tobacco imports, extend smokefree areas to vehicles, ban vending machines and make tobacco companies fund smoking-cessation products.
The Government has 90 working days to respond to its recommendations.
The changes announced yesterday will be presented as amendments to the Smokefree Environments Act. A Bill is set to be introduced to Parliament before the end of the year and enforced next year.
Supermarket owner Progressive Enterprises had no comment last night.
