Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:625;Page:20438] 
3.  
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Has she introduced legislation to establish a trans-Tasman therapeutic goods agency; if not why has she with the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Health set up a committee to oversee the establishment of standards for therapeutic products under the new agency? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Leader of the House) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Health 
: No. Legislation is being prepared and Parliament will be fully consulted when it has been introduced. The establishment of the interim standards committee is a necessary and normal part of the preparatory work that is needed. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does the Minister agree that it is an important loss of sovereignty for New Zealand to give away the right to regulate key industries according to our own particular needs and preferences; and why is she proceeding to put in place the infrastructure for what amounts to a major constitutional change without even a mandate from this House? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The committee is an interim one. It has an equality of membership from Australia and New Zealand. If New Zealand is surrendering sovereignty to Australia then equally Australia is surrendering sovereignty to New Zealand. I think it is stretching matters considerably to say that a body that will operate under parliamentary authority is some kind of major constitutional issue. 
Barbara Stewart 
: Do the facts that she has met with the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Health and has appointed an expert advisory committee to oversee the establishment of standards for therapeutic products mean that she is planning to proceed in the absence of enabling legislation; if so does that not demonstrate a cavalier disregard for the democratic process? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No and I can assure members that any rules that proceed will be subject to a disallowance provision by either Parliament on either side of the Tasman. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Why is she bulldozing ahead with the trans-Tasman proposal when the national interests analysis prepared by her own Ministry of Health warns that proceeding with a joint agency is likely to lead to “higher prices for consumers” “higher compliance costs falling on manufacturers and suppliers” and “pharmaceutical firms shifting their regulatory activities to Australia with the flow-on effect of tax revenues being forgone”? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: My understanding of the member’s position is that we should move to some form of mutual recognition. That would actually give New Zealand less control over these matters than it would have under the joint proposal. 
Keith Locke 
: Will the United States - Australia free-trade agreement in any way restrain the trans-Tasman arrangements on medicines and therapeutics such as by increasing the period in which Pharmac cannot bring in cheaper generic products? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No that is not my understanding. The member could note that in the Australian Budget presented yesterday one of the means by which the tax cuts are being paid for is by seeking to reduce the costs that are being paid for pharmaceuticals. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Why did she claim to have the support of peak industry bodies in her press release yesterday when Thompson’s Nutrition the Charter of Health Practitioners Citizens for Health Choices Bionutrient Ltd Nature’s Sunshine Products New Zealand Nutritionals Genesis Bio Laboratory Ltd Pacific International Nutrition NZ Ltd High Performance Health and many other industry groups strongly oppose any moves toward a joint agency; and are the peak industry bodies she consults with simply a euphemism for those groups that support her or agree with her? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I think the great majority of the groups that the member mentioned come from what might be called the alternative medicines section. The view of the Minister is very clear: the fact that some medicines are sold by people who engage in basket weaving and waving beads does not mean that they should be considered less reliable than other forms of medicine sold by people regarded as more normal. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Is she confident she will be able to get the necessary support in Parliament to pass legislation setting up a joint trans-Tasman therapeutics agency; if so from whom? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: From a majority of MPs. But of course between now and the passing of this legislation the public probably will have some say on who the majority of MPs will be.