Coleman Jonathan: Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 I think it is a real shame that the House is missing this opportunity to institute a voluntary organ donor register because there is a real need in society for donated organs. The situation is getting worse and worse all the time; there is no question about that. We heard a lot of evidence from people at the Health Committee that with the rising rates of diabetes and liver disease we will not be able to meet the demand for organs this country will have over the coming years. We heard that there were only 26 organ donors in this country last year and when we think about the explosion of disease that results in organ failure it is quite clear that there is a real mismatch between the supply and the demand of organs. 
I think it is very disappointing that Labour members have not taken the opportunity to support this Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill because in their manifesto last election Labour stated that it would support an organ donor register and if that is not a flip-flop well I do not really know what is. This would have been a great opportunity to do something positive for the country. This really was an opportunity for the parties across this Parliament to get together over this bill and actually do something positive. 
The Ministry of Health said that there was no evidence. Well we heard that several jurisdictions around the world are already instituting this type of donor register. If it is good enough for the Canadians for places in America and for states in Australia then one would have to wonder why we are not doing this in New Zealand. 
There was a time when with the high road toll in this country there was unfortunately a ready supply of donors. It is good that that road toll problem has been greatly improved over the years but it has left us with the issue that we have only a very few people come forward to donate their organs at death. I just think that if we had a greater degree of education on this issue and promoted that through the institution of the register that Dr Jackie Blue was proposing then we would start to go some way towards meeting that demand because the situation at the moment means we will have New Zealanders on waiting lists dying this year because there are no organs available. We will have people dying of kidney failure with end-stage diabetes and end-stage renal failure and people dying of liver failure—people who could have been living and making a real contribution to society if an organ register had been instituted and if they had been able to get the vital organ that would have given them the gift of life. 
We heard from a lot of families during the select committee process who said that it had made a massive difference to them personally to know that when their family member had passed on that person had the opportunity to give life to someone in need and some very moving tales were told. But we also heard evidence from intensive care specialists who were unwilling to take on the burden of responsibility involved in asking bereaved families whether they would be prepared for their loved one to give up an organ after his or her death. The problem we have at the moment is that if we register on our driver’s licence as an organ donor there is absolutely no guarantee that someone will not overrule that wish once we have passed on. The National Party position is that if one makes a decision about what will happen to one’s body after one dies then that should be absolutely binding and no one else should be able to overrule that decision. We feel that the organ register that Dr Jackie Blue was proposing would have greatly increased the supply of available donors and that it would have gone a huge way towards making sure that more New Zealanders would be able to live past end-stage organ failure in the years ahead. 
I will pay tribute to Andy Tookey who has really been the impetus behind this bill coming before the Parliament. Andy Tookey got in touch with Jackie Blue earlier this year and he explained the tragic situation that his family have been in. They have a lovely little girl who has end-stage liver failure and is waiting for a donor organ. That very brave little girl came and spoke before the Health Committee and that really personalised for us the situation that many New Zealand families are finding themselves in. I would say to Andy Tookey that he should not give up on his goal of getting this register established because I think that it is only a matter of time before it happens and he certainly knows that he has the National Party’s support the next time this matter comes before the Parliament. 
It is amazing when we think that there were two select committee reports that recommended the institution of this register and that donor registers have been taken up in so many jurisdictions overseas. It is very difficult to face the fact that this Parliament is now to vote this bill down but I think that this issue will raise its head in the future. It will not go away. There were only 26 organ donors this year and I am sure that there may well be fewer next year although hopefully some of the public debate that this has brought up will actually make people want to come forward and give their organs after death despite the fact that we do not have a register. 
One of the problems with organ donation is that when we pass on from this life it is not just anyone whose organs are fit to be donated. So when a person is deceased it does not automatically follow that that person can give his or her organs for medical purposes especially for live medical purposes or transplantation to a live recipient. I alluded earlier to the change in the road toll and we actually need to have the organs of someone who has been recently deceased usually in an accident. Of course in those circumstances people are not generally expecting death. It comes tragically and suddenly it is a massive shock for the family it is obviously totally unexpected and very often the family has not discussed the issue of organ donation especially if it is a younger person who has passed away in an accident. That person might have made his or her wishes known by writing something on his or her driver’s licence but the real issue is that that wish can easily be overridden. All it takes is for a family member to say to a doctor in the intensive care unit: “No I do not actually want my spouse”—or that person’s brother son or daughter—“to give up an organ. We have never discussed it and frankly I do not feel comfortable with that.” But if we have a register and we put informed consent and the right of the individual to determine what happens to his or her body at the heart of this debate then I think we will find a lot more organs will become available. 
There is also the issue of cultural context and different cultural practices which came up in the course of the debate. I think that an issue that people need to consider is that at some stage we or members of our family or of our group may need to be the recipient of an organ and if we are prepared to be the recipient then we need to give more thought to the issue of whether we are prepared to be a donor. I think that issue will be a very very important issue for some of our communities to discuss because I know that keeping the whole body intact after death is a cultural issue for Maori and Pacific Island people especially but we also have to face the fact that the rate of diabetes and liver disease is on the rise. Many people from those communities will need organs and we have to look at where those organs will come from. Unless New Zealanders as a people come to the party and say that they are prepared to become organ donors and to support their families and whanau in their desire to give up their organs after death so that someone else can have a chance at life then I think we will be faced with a situation where increasing numbers of New Zealanders will die earlier and needlessly because there are not the kidneys available to keep them alive and there are not the livers available to give them another chance at life. I think that is really what this issue is about. 
An opportunity has been passed up but I do not think that this issue will go away. I think that this legislation will come back before the Parliament and that there will be a petition to the select committee at some stage. I hope that in the light of this debate parties may reconsider their position in the future so that we end up having a donor register for the good of all New Zealanders. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker.