Coleman Jonathan: Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill — First Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:2833] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 I am speaking today in favour of the Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill which the National Party will be supporting although I have to say we are doing so with some reservation. As was outlined earlier in the debate last week the bill will address some of the gaps in the Crown’s statutory powers under the Health Act 1956. It will ensure that the Government has adequate powers to respond in a quick and effective manner to an epidemic and it will update quarantine processes. 
It is high time that we had this bill because I can tell members that bird flu is not just a threat; it is imminent. It is almost upon us and this bill is sorely needed. We cannot ignore the threat of bird flu any longer. The H5N1 strain of the virus is endemic in many countries in Asia notably Viet Nam and we know that with international air travel it is just a matter of a short flight away. What is more the strain has already caused numerous illnesses and deaths amongst humans in Asia and the World Health Organization notes “that never before in the history of avian influenza have so many countries been simultaneously affected than in the past 5 or 6 years.” 
But the real question is that with years and years to prepare for this eventuality—going right back to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic in 2001—why has it got to this point before the Government has actually done anything. The fact is that the Government has been on the back foot right throughout every stage of pandemic planning—right from that first day in November in question time when Tony Ryall asked the “4 out of 10” Minister of the “5½ out of 10” health portfolio if there was a list of people who would be receiving a special supply of the drug Tamiflu. The problem was that the Minister did not have a clue he did not know and that was pretty much indicative of where the Government’s planning was on this issue. 
One has to ask how much it has progressed since then. We have this bill but what we really need is a plan and it has to be an actionable plan. We have seen draft after draft of plans—version 14 is the last one and it was released back in November—but we still have not seen the final plan for how the Government will deal with an outbreak of bird flu in New Zealand. Then we had the debacle from the Government over the supply of emergency drugs during a pandemic. It was not until the National Party brought it to the Government’s attention during the select committee process that the Minister finally woke up and realised that if we have a pandemic we will be quarantined in this country and asthmatics diabetics and many people with chronic and serious illnesses will need a whole lot of drugs and they will not be able to get them. What did we find? We found that the Government had not even thought about that. So it is pretty clear that the Government from go to whoa has not had a clue on how to prepare for this epidemic and it has had 5 long years—going right back to Sars in 2001. 
I have to ask members how the people of New Zealand can have confidence that the Government will get it right with this bill. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: No confidence at all. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: There is no confidence. I have no confidence. I am frankly very very worried about the prospect of an outbreak of bird flu and I know that that fear is shared by the vast majority of the general public. When one looks at the way the “4 out of 10” Minister of the “5½ out of 10” health portfolio has been managing the elective surgery system one asks why anyone could have any faith in his ability to prepare our citizens and protect them from the threat of this pandemic. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: You wouldn’t have. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: One absolutely would not. We have seen a lot of statistics around elective surgery which the Government has been trying to bury recently. But the fact is—and it is the National Party that revealed this—10000 people in this country have been removed from the waiting list for first specialist appointments in the past year and 24000 people are waiting more than 6 months just to see a specialist. And more than 8000 people—whom we know about—who had been told they would get an operation have now been kicked off the waiting list. What is more we are seeing less elective surgery being carried out than when this Government came to power. 
So in the light of elective surgery being the touchstone for how well a Minister is managing the health portfolio we have to ask ourselves how on earth if he cannot get elective surgery right and if so many secrets are being swept under the carpet we can expect this Minister to be able to lead our preparation for an epidemic and be able to supervise our overall planning. The answer is that we absolutely cannot. Because of this National Party members believe there has to be a multiparty whole-of-Government approach to this issue. I can say that we are very disappointed that we have not been consulted on the preparation of this bill. I am sure there are members from other parties here who will also be very disappointed because I think in a matter of this seriousness for the nation we have to have wide consultation to make sure that we have the best possible approach. If we leave it in the hands of one party and a party that has shown that its ability to manage health is clearly inadequate we are headed for disaster. That is the actual fact of the matter. 
Although as I have said the bill gives wide-sweeping powers to the Government and the police there are some very real gaps in this legislation. The biggest issue if we are faced with a pandemic will be a total breakdown in law and order. Suddenly we will be thrown into a scenario that none of us has ever experienced before. The medical facilities will be overwhelmed and people will be rushing to get into them. We in the National Party say that we have to look at some of the basics that have been missed in this bill. Treasury has stated that if we have a bird flu epidemic in this country in the first year we will have an economic experience that will be exactly like the Great Depression of 1929. This country will have a drop in its GDP of between 5 and 10 percent in the first year of an epidemic. People will not have money in their bank accounts to pay their mortgages. Money will not be available to pay volunteers. When we consider this bill we need to highlight the fact that there are some simple gaps in it. What will happen to all the people who cannot go to work to earn the money to pay their mortgages? Will the banks foreclose on them? We need to have legislation to address some of those financial basics. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: Some certainty. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Yep—we need certainty. People’s economic well-being will be detrimentally affected. People’s assets will be wiped out unless we have legislation addressing some of these real basic concerns. 
So those are some of the shortfalls but there is another real shortfall in this bill. In 1918 we did not get on top of the flu epidemic until we appointed one person in charge overall and the problem at the moment is that the response is totally fragmented. We have 21 district health boards doing what they like on bird flu. We do not know what they will do. There has not been a whole-of-Government rehearsal yet which is absolutely crucial. We heard of some plan for a rehearsal of a whole-of-Government approach in November 2007 but I suggest to members that if we leave it as long as that there may well not be anyone left—assuming we have had bird flu by that stage—to participate in the rehearsal. It will be too late. I call upon this Government to appoint someone in overall charge of the operation now. We have to have someone who is answerable for putting a plan in place and for guiding the operation. It will have to be someone with some organisational experience—perhaps a military person or someone with some serious business experience who can work across a number of Government agencies and really get things right. 
In summary we in the National Party support this bill but we certainly have some reservations. We think there are a number of quite basic gaps in it. There is no question that the legislation is long overdue. I think the Government has been very tardy about this issue. I do not have any confidence that the Minister of Health is the right person to be guiding the response. We have to have a whole-of-Parliament response. We have a lot of talent across all the Opposition parties in this Parliament and a lot of people with knowledge to contribute. It is absolutely crucial for the well-being of this country that we have the best possible response. So my final plea is that we consult more widely on matters of this importance and that we absolutely get it right. It is crucial for the well-being of the nation.