Coleman Jonathan: Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to speak today in support of Dr Jackie Blue’s Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill. I also acknowledge Andy Tookey’s presence here. I know he made the trip down here before the adjournment to hear this bill. We did not get through all the business that night so it is a sign of his dedication that he is back here again. 
I believe that this bill will go some way to addressing the pressing problem of a shortage of organs for donation in this country. As such it really does stand to benefit greatly the people of New Zealand. It will represent a significant change to the current system for donor arrangements. The bottom line is that organ donation saves lives. New Zealanders deserve the right to have their wishes respected in death including the decision to donate an organ. 
Many New Zealand families have been enormously comforted in times of distress by the knowledge that a dearly loved family member has been able to give another human being the chance of life. What is more the long-term success rates for transplant surgery have increased dramatically over the past few years. Now 5 years after gaining a new heart 75 percent of recipients are still alive and 5 years after receiving a new liver 90 percent of people are still living. From just one donor as many as 10 people can directly benefit and drastically improve their quality of life or be given the chance of continued life. Organ donation has positively impacted on the lives of many many New Zealanders and their families. However it is my belief that the current Act is not working and that New Zealand really does need to proactively address why our level of organ donation is so low so that we can find a solution to this problem before more people die while waiting for a donor organ to become available. In 2004 approximately 400 New Zealanders were waiting for a donor organ and there are 350 at the present time. In 2005 19 people died while waiting for a donor organ and with a diabetes epidemic upon us the demand for donor kidneys will further outstrip the number of organs available. 
Interestingly around 1.1 million New Zealanders have said yes to organ donation on their drivers’ licences. In many cases though when someone in this situation becomes eligible to donate his or her organs family members veto such a request. This is one of the major issues that Jackie Blue’s bill seeks to address. Although only a small number of people who die each year are medically suitable to donate their organs on average 43 percent of these people are stopped from donating due to the veto of the family. Indeed it is well known that putting “donor” on one’s driver’s licence is not a legally binding way to become an organ donor. This bill would make a person’s stated and documented wish to donate legally binding. 
Another area of contention in the current Act is the lack of a national register for organ donors as well as there being no choice as to what organs a person can choose to donate. For an organ donation system to work effectively a national register such as the one Dr Blue proposes is necessary. This is because such a register would include non-drivers unlike the current system and would allow people to specify which organs they would and would not like to donate once they are deceased. As well as this they would be given a choice about what their organs would be used for—for medical research or for donation to a fellow human being. 
In 2004 the Health Committee considered the issue of organ donor rates and what could be done about increasing them. Although there have been efforts to act on many of the committee’s recommendations it is clear that more impetus is required. New Zealanders deserve the chance for this bill to be examined at select committee level. There is a groundswell of public support out there for this issue to be examined. The articles letters and editorials in our newspapers are testament to this. We are under no illusion that there will not be difficulties in enacting what this bill proposes but we would be letting down the people of New Zealand if we filed this one away in the too-hard basket. 
In summary the Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill seeks to address the shortcomings of the current system. It is a step in the right direction of addressing a major problem for our nation—our terribly low organ donor rates. Any bill that seriously attempts to do this should be given the chance to be considered in detail by this Parliament. We owe that to the people.