Street Maryan: Medicines Amendment Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStreet Maryan: Medicines Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 19 November 2013. Volume:695;Page:15057. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour): It gives me great pleasure in fact a deal of satisfaction to rise to speak to the Medicines Amendment Bill. I had the privilege of being on the Health Committee under the chairmanship of Dr Paul Hutchison when it was debated and reported back in August of 2012 prior to that I was also on the Health Committee in 2005 when this bill was first debated and when it first came into the House. So I have lived with this piece of legislation albeit on the back-burner as my colleague has said for a very long time. Tony Ryall was the Opposition spokesperson on health. We worked on the Health Committee together—or not as the case may be but we happened to be on the Health Committee together—and I remember the parade of red umbrellas. It was the red umbrella protest. I am sorry if there are members opposite who have come into this House subsequent to the 2005 election and do not know of that performance and now have to sit here listening while the Labour Opposition rightly sheets home to the National Party the blame for the delay in this legislation. If it is embarrassing for them so it should be—so it should be—because this bill was in front of the Health Committee in my first term in Parliament from 2005 onwards.The Hon Tony Ryall saw fit to side with a set of protesters whose arguments ranged from the patently ludicrous to the quite sensible and worthy of debate but who gathered together because of a range of measures. They saw this opportunity for a political score against the Labour Government at the time. So instead of looking to see whether the bill was going to benefit the health and welfare of New Zealanders Tony Ryall saw fit to do what only Tony Ryall does best—that is calculate the political benefits and ups and downs. I have to say that I consider that to be the way the Minister continues to operate the health portfolio now—that is with half a dozen measurable outputs into which everything has to be squeezed so that he can sing his sunny song constantly about how well health is progressing. Any other stories—the true ones—about people who cannot get on to waiting lists to get operations or whose blood glucose meters are seriously jeopardising their health do not make it into Tony Ryall’s narrative. They do not make it because he is only here for politics; he is not here for people.This is a historic reminder that that is this Minister’s modus operandi. He will look to the politics before he looks to the content. We had this ludicrous situation with two new members on the Health Committee—one a former general practitioner Dr Jonathan Coleman and one a former breast physician Dr Jackie Blue—who were compelled byTony Ryall to oppose this even though they knew it offended every professional ethic that they had. Jonathan Coleman had no trouble sacrificing his professional ethics but Jackie Blue did have trouble sacrificing her personal ethics. However that is history now. But let us not forget it. For those members opposite who do not know that history it is important that they do understand it because it is part of the progress or lack thereof of this bill.This Medicines Amendment Bill modernises the Medicines Act. It is only a temporary measure until the Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Agency is set in place. When that is set in place it will overtake the provisions of this bill. However the purpose of the provisions of this bill was to actually expand the ability of health practitioners to be able to prescribe so that one did not have to go to a doctor all the time; one could go to a designated prescriber who came under the jurisdiction the oversight and the supervision of an authorised prescriber.I am not going to take up any more time over this. We support this bill because we invented it and because it is good for New Zealanders.The question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon Todd McClay to the proposed amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 270 in his name to insert new clause 37A be agreed to:delete subclause (1).Amendment to the amendment agreed to.The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 270 in the name of the Hon Todd McClay to insert new clause 37A be agreed to.Amendment as amended agreed to.Part 1 as amended Part 2 schedule and clauses 1 to 3 agreed to.Bill reported with amendment.Report adopted.