Brown Peter: Appointments — Abortion Supervisory Committee 
Brown Peter: Appointments — Abortion Supervisory Committee 
[Volume:639;Page:9914] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Let there be no doubt in the minds of anybody in this House or anybody who is listening to this debate that we are talking about a very serious issue. As I understand it somewhere between 18000 and 19000 abortions—I do not think that it has topped 19000 as yet—are permitted per year and that number increases just about every year. That represents 50 abortions a day or thereabouts. That is the equivalent of nearly two classrooms of children a day. It is very difficult to believe that that is not abortion on demand—very difficult to believe. 
I listened to the Minister intently. He said—and I do not think I am misquoting him—something along the lines of it being essential that we have some sort of system to take note of the interests of women and of ethnic and cultural concerns. I did not hear him talk about potential fathers at all. Do they not count at all? Do they not count in anybody’s language? I have not heard the words “father” or “man” mentioned in this context as yet. Obviously it is principally a women’s issue. Principally it is a women’s matter but not totally and perhaps we are allowing too many abortions because there is no man on the Abortion Supervisory Committee. So New Zealand First will be moving a motion to put a male doctor on that committee. 
I move  
That the motion be amended by omitting Patricia Ann Allan of Christchurch and substituting Dr Peter Hall of Whangaparaoa 
. This is a last-minute motion and it will have caught many members in the House by surprise but I will just mention a little bit of Dr Hall’s background. He is a graduate of the Auckland School of Medicine. He has a diploma in obstetrics. He has been in general practice from 1987 to the current time. He is a good man by all accounts. He was the chairman of the board of directors of Coast Care Accident and Medical Clinic a visiting medical adviser to the special needs panel of Gulf Harbour School and a medical adviser to Pregnancy Counselling Services. I will not read out the whole of his CV because it is slightly out of date. It was submitted to the Government some time ago at the beginning of this term of Parliament with a request for Dr Hall to be considered for appointment on to this committee. 
New Zealand First will be splitting its vote on this motion but none of the candidates will get total backing from New Zealand First—not one of them. Some of us will vote for the candidate nominated by Gordon Copeland and some will vote against that candidate. But all of us will vote for Dr Peter Hall. We think the Abortion Supervisory Committee will be served all the better if there is a male on that committee and this is the man. 
Let me go back to the issue we are talking about—abortion. Abortion must be safe. We do not want to move this country back to backstreet abortions ever again. It must be safe—safe for all concerned. Therefore it must be legal. So there must be some law that allows abortion to some degree. But thirdly and most important abortion must be rare. Eighteen thousand abortions a year or thereabouts is not rare in my view or in the view of my colleagues. It is too many. This committee must take a more active role must take a more educative role and must play a part in bringing down that number. 
Mr Copeland said that for every thousand births there are 300 abortions. That is a dreadful statistic and the way I put it that is the equivalent of having about 50 children or potential children—some will say children; some will say potential children—aborted every day; not just weekdays but every day of the year. This House should take this issue very seriously. We nominate Dr Peter Hall and I hope that members have taken that on board.