Roy Eric: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Roy Eric: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:905] 
ERIC ROY (National—Invercargill) 
: 
 Part 3 which deals with complaints disciplinary hearings medical and competence assessments and conditions of practice is a necessary part. If we are to have robust legislation and a series of requirements—and a number of members have spoken about the necessity of having a credible veterinary practice—we need mechanisms to deal with anomalies much as we would hope that there are none or indeed very few if any. This part deals with that. 
I may have missed something but I have sat here and read the headings of the 40 clauses that Part 3 had before the division that we have just agreed to with the absorption of Supplementary Order Paper 8 in the name of the Minister Jim Anderton. I have read the 40 clauses and I do not understand. There is clause 30AA “Interpretation” and then mention in clause 30 of some sort of quango that I cannot identify anywhere else in the bill. That is the complaints assessment committee. The complaints assessment committee is mentioned at least 17 times in Part 3 as an all-powerful all-knowledgable creature that will deal with problems. But I do not find when reading the bill how that beast—that complaints assessment committee—will be created who will be on it what the requirements to be on it will be how often it will meet how members will be replaced how their performance might be reviewed and what their role in this process will be. I am not saying that we do not need the committee but if we have it we need to know where the members will come from and what their particular qualifications might be. 
Rightfully this Part 3 is very strong on words like “observe the rules of natural justice”. In clause 32 the words “good faith” are used. This body is to determine whether there have been breaches in performance by vets in a range of things including practise payment of dues sloppy procedures and inadequate recording—one thing after another. I want to know who those complaints assessment committee members will be and how that committee will be created. That information may well be in the bill; if it is it needs to be more prominent because I have spent half an hour trying to find it. That in itself is an issue. I would like to be proven wrong because I do not want to enact a power to an authority and not know where its members are from. The Minister in the chair Jim Anderton is nodding so I will look forward to his response. 
Let us assume that the information is in this bill and that I have had a senior moment and not been able to see it or find out where it is. It would seem to me appropriate that those people would have some kind of veterinary experience. That would be somewhat logical if they are to assess their peers. But if we are to take seriously the words about natural justice being observed one must ask whether those people if they are veterinarians are practising and whether they can be objective if they are in a practice that may or may not be in competition with someone who is deemed to have breached the rules and is required to appear before the all-powerful complaints assessment committee. 
 I say to the Minister that I think the Committee needs some elucidation on just who is on the complaints assessment committee how committee members are created and how their performance might be reviewed. Are they practising veterinarians in competition with other veterinarians who might find themselves having to appear before the all-powerful all-knowledgeable complaints assessment committee? I am just a little bit alarmed by the vagueness surrounding this issue. I see that the officials are now briefing the Minister so I will look forward— 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: I can’t understand what you’re saying either. 
ERIC ROY 
: Well look it is quite clear. The Minister cannot understand but I am asking quite clearly who sets up the complaints assessment committee. I can find no rules in Part 3 which is the part dealing with complaints and disciplinary hearings as to where its members come from. Yes they exist. Maybe they already exist. Are they set up under a provision in previous legislation? Before I can vote on this part I need to know where they come from who they are and whether they are practising—all the matters I have mentioned. And that is of absolute paramount importance. If this is a robust and credible piece of legislation then how the committee is created ought to be recorded in Part 3 which is the part of the bill about complaints and disciplinary hearings. Does the Minister understand my request? 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: Yes 
ERIC ROY 
: Thank you.