Hutchison Paul: Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill — In Committee 
Hutchison Paul: Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:611;Page:8230] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (NZ National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 These schedules represent the unpleasant ending of a bill which the chief executive officer of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists described as a dog’s breakfast. These schedules indeed are a veritable dog’s breakfast and how unpalatable! Here we have this whole bill—a monolith of 270 pages including 90 pages of schedules just to sort out the huge complexity within which this Labour Government insists on entangling the health services of New Zealand. 
In looking at schedule 1 “Provisions applying to Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal” once again one has that awful déjà vu of the Minister of Health who insists rather than having the professionals elect their own members she wants to appoint them. 
We go on to schedule 4 and I just happen to see some of the Acts that are being amended including the Human Tissue Act. In that Act the definition of the term “medical practitioner” is being repealed. The bill goes on and talks once again about this question of competency. Yet here we have a bill where the Minister of Health has failed to define competency which is what this bill is all about. Despite this monolith of 270 pages the Minister of Health once again has failed to define one of the most elementary features of it. 
 What a huge pity it is that the medical profession lost confidence in the Minister of Health Annette King! What a pity that she could not even define competence let alone carry the medical profession of New Zealand with her in terms of what should have been a very important bill that was based on the Medical Practitioners Act! That is a good piece of legislation that was brought in by the last National Government yet what a tragedy it is that the Minister of Health lost confidence in those who have to take the ultimate responsibility for the highly complex cases that do come into the health arena in New Zealand. 
I go on to discuss the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act. I was interested to see once again stated in the Government’s commentary to the bill that: “The objective of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act is to reduce regulatory barriers to the movement of goods and persons in registered occupations. ... The Act does not currently apply to medical practitioners. The Act takes precedence over this bill as stated in clause 154. This means that health practitioners (except doctors) who are registered in Australia must be granted registration in New Zealand when they come to work here if they have complied with competency requirements including cultural safety.” 
Once again that phrase “cultural safety” brings up a déjà vu nightmare in my mind when I think of that poor nurse I met the other day struggling home from Auckland Hospital where she had undergone her cultural safety day. 
 She bemoaned to me that she had spent several hours being talked to about the mythical fourth article of the Treaty of Waitangi. Here we are the Minister of Health of New Zealand wanting to impose on the poor old Aussies the New Zealand standards of cultural competence; competence that she cannot even define let alone this concept of cultural safety which seems in her mind to be focused on the fourth article of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
We must finish at schedule 5 bemoaning once again what a shame it is that this bill has not received multiparty agreement due to the failings of the Minister of Health. 
The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 111 in the name of Heather Roy to omit the item relating to the Medical Council of New Zealand from schedule 2 be agreed to. 
Amendment not agreed to.