Hutchison Paul: Coroners Bill — In Committee 
Hutchison Paul: Coroners Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:633;Page:4710] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 Undoubtedly the title “Coroners Bill” would seem to be quite appropriate. Unfortunately however due to the intervention of this Labour Government—which was so ably described by Chris Finlayson—in failing to debate the odious clause 3 of schedule 3 which states: “No former coroner is entitled to compensation for loss of office as a coroner or deputy coroner under clause 2.” the title perhaps should appropriately be named the “Labour Government Dumping on Long-serving Coroners Bill” or maybe the “Labour Government (Let us Overturn Constitutional Convention) Bill”. 
I was not on the select committee but I have listened to a few of the debates and one of the things that has struck me is that there has been consistent acknowledgment from both sides of the House as to the hard work and commitment of many long-serving coroners throughout New Zealand. On the one hand we have heard of people like the full-time Auckland coroners such as Dr Murray Jamieson and Sarn Herdson who have provided quite an exemplary service—so exemplary in fact that I understand they are called every morning at a quarter to 7 on 365 days a year and go on until 11 pm. In fact further to that the office starts work at 5.30 am with the police compiling their reports and getting them ready to report to the coroners. During their tenure which has been about 4 years—since 2001—the number of coronial files opened and post mortems carried out in Auckland has fallen by 30 percent while the Auckland population has risen steadily. 
But on the other hand we have heard from my colleague Anne Tolley the excellent member for East Coast about the sterling work carried out by Hughie Hughes JP who was neither a doctor nor a lawyer. I must say just by way of acknowledging Dr Jamieson again that he is both a lawyer and a doctor and carries out a very very competent process. 
Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: And a Rhodes scholar. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: And he is a Rhodes scholar to boot. He is certainly looking after a most exemplary office in Auckland. But I understand that Hughie Hughes who is neither a lawyer nor a doctor has for many years served a widely dispersed community the length and breadth of the East Coast with extreme dedication commitment and sensitivity. 
So I come back to the point that although National is supporting the Coroners Bill for the many technical reasons that have been debated we are deeply concerned about the Labour Government’s failure to recognise fair and reasonable transitional provisions for those coroners who have served New Zealand so well and who will no longer have a job when this bill comes into effect because of clause 3 of schedule 3 which is quite clear about Labour’s commitment towards long-serving New Zealanders. I repeat that that clause states: “No former coroner is entitled to compensation for loss of office as a coroner or deputy coroner under clause 2.” Indeed I understand from my legal colleagues that what the Government is undoubtedly doing is dumping long-serving committed hard-working New Zealanders without a thought for what they have done—without a thought for their service. It seems incredible when clause 107(1) states: “For the purpose of performing or exercising a function power or duty under this Act a coroner has the same powers privileges authorities and immunities as a District Court Judge …”. This untalented short-sighted Labour Government—which my colleague Chris Finlayson describes as having a rapidly diminishing gene pool to select its talent from—is overturning longstanding constitutional conventions and dumping on the coroners it describes.