Rich Katherine: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee 
Rich Katherine: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee 
[Volume:625;Page:20287] 
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak to clauses 1 and 2 of the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3). I point out that although we have been discussing the whole accident compensation issue this evening the amendment bill does not deal with injury prevention at all and neither does it deal with rehabilitation. Although we have talked about compensation about changes to definitions of medical mishap and misadventure that the National Party supports we believe that a bill should be titled in a way that truly reflects the nature of the legislation. I would like the Minister for ACC to take a call to explain the name of the bill because it does not seem to reflect what is actually in the bill. 
We are also looking at the changes to the commencement date. It is quite clear that this bill has been running late for the Government. Changes in the bill were to come into force on 1 April 2005; that date has now been shifted out to July. 
So we are seeing some delays and I would like to hear the reasons for those delays. 
Also I would like the Minister to explain some extremely complex wording and changes. I know that we have already voted on her Supplementary Order Paper 365 which these changes are in but they relate to clauses 1 and 2. I shall read out some of the amendments because they do not seem to me to be at all clear. 
If we look at the amendments to clause 2 on Supplementary Order Paper 365 we see—I shall skip the first amendment and quote from the second amendment onwards—“To omit the word ‘April’ and substitute the word ‘July’. To add to subclause (3) the words ‘; and 1 or more Orders in Council may be made appointing different dates for different provisions and different purposes including different dates for different repeals set out in section 3(2)(a) to (t)’ ”. That seems to me to be legal gobbledygook. It is not very easy to understand. The word “different” is repeated many many times. If the Minister can explain the impact of those changes and what they actually mean I will be very impressed. If members will look at clause 2 they will see that the amendments are as clear as mud—appointing different dates for different provisions and different purposes including different dates for different repeals as set out in section blah-blah-blah. That is not 100 percent clear to this side of the Committee nor to members on the other side I am sure. 
This bill is one for which there has been a lot of support. National members are a bit unsure about the title because there is nothing in the bill about injury prevention or rehabilitation. We agree with the changes in definitions that have been made. As many members who continue to do constituency work will know to prove that medical misadventure or medical mishap occurred is quite a process—having to find fault having to go through a process of first getting a medic to say that he or she has made a mistake then of proving that—and in the meantime a lot of anxiety is caused and there are lots and lots of delays. This bill allows treatment injury as it is now called—which does make it a bit clearer—to fall into line with the rest of the accident compensation system which is a no-fault system and which I think has cross-party support in this House and has done since 1974. 
Of course the key defining issue is choice and whether people are able to make a choice about how they get their insurance and where they get their insurance. We believe that the State is not the only organisation or group that is able to provide accident prevention education injury prevention insurance or accident insurance and we think that is one of the aspects of this bill on which there is a very clear difference between National and Labour. We have heard tonight about a lot of the costs and concerns relating to cost blowouts.