Chadwick Steve: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill — Recommittal In Committee Third Reading Procedure 
Chadwick Steve: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill — Recommittal In Committee Third Reading Procedure 
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STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 I am delighted to take a call on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill and to open by congratulating my colleague Dianne Yates. This has not been an easy journey. It has taken 9 years which is an enormously long time in which to wait to see a dream and a vision come to reality. This is a wonderful day for my colleague Dianne Yates. We acknowledge as have other members of the Health Committee her absolute passion and determination to get this bill through the House. That has not been without some problems with regard to my role as chair of the committee. That was because the bill was really a morphing-together of two previous members’ bills. That was our difficulty and then we also had to consider Supplementary Order Paper 80 in the name of Lianne Dalziel. We were trying to meld together the best of the two diverse philosophies: the approach of the Hon Doug Graham and of Dianne Yates. That is always difficult on such a complex and technological issue. 
The Supplementary Order Paper came up with a very flexible regulatory regime that could respond to the new technologies that move so quickly in the area of assisted human reproduction technology. I acknowledge that it is not the licensing regime with strong regulation that the member promoting the bill wanted to see and that was our difficulty. I think when we hear the speeches from the other members of the select committee that we will realise we were reflective of the House and probably of the country in our divergent views. The one thing on which we all agreed was that we did need to have legislation. I think we all came to that view at the end of the very long process. 
This is unusual but I would like to acknowledge the Opposition members of the select committee. Lynda Scott was a member and I also mention Paul Hutchison in particular. With their medical background and their understanding of complex medical issues they contributed constructively to the debate on this bill. It is unusual too for a Government member to congratulate and thank ACT but I think that Heather Roy with her very strong research background gave us some wonderful perspectives on the role of the ministerial advisory committee which does have to consider research. 
 Yes we did provide for research to be part of the committee’s functions and that caused some concerns. 
I think we have come up with a very good flexible regulatory regime. I take issue though with the concerns that people still have. It is sad that a member at the third reading of her own bill has to say that she thinks it is still a bit loose and that she is worried about it. I think that is really sad because I would like Dianne Yates to feel excited tonight and to go away saying that we all did a wonderful job and produced a robust piece of law. I believe it is robust because we had to construct it in the context of our health system. New Zealand is not Canada the United Kingdom or Australia. We have a health and disability sector here that takes a safety and quality approach. We could not have a licensing regime and think that just by bringing accreditation to the licensing of clinics we would have a robust system. So we must remind ourselves that this bill is reflective of the current health environment in which we all work. 
I am concerned too that we have not convinced some of our colleagues of the robust approach to the establishment of guidelines in this bill. Making guidelines is not a flimsy process. In fact it is a far better way than passing legislation through Parliament to get New Zealanders involved in the very technologies that will have such a huge impact on their lives. I believe that the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis guideline that is currently being developed is reflective of that approach. New Zealanders are having input into that guideline which under this legislation will then have to go to the Minister. The guideline will not be accepted if we have concerns about it. I think that there are many many avenues for challenging the construction of guidelines. I acknowledge too a comment that Paul Hutchison made earlier that for over 20 years fertility clinics have functioned relatively well in this country. The gap was getting bigger and the medical risk was growing larger by not having a regulatory framework. We have that now. 
I think the information provisions are one aspect that makes this bill world-leading legislation. Something that we in New Zealand have learned through open adoption is that it is very very valuable for children to know about their origins—to know whether they were born as a result of assisted human reproduction technology. The information provisions in this bill are absolutely outstanding. I have heard back from those who have gone overseas that the overseas licensing regimes are deeply caught in red tape now. The information regime is one aspect of this bill that we can congratulate ourselves on. We have gone out on our own limb with the provisions relating to access to information held by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages. The good intent of everybody on the select committee was demonstrated when it accepted the amendment from Paul Hutchison to set up the voluntary information regime. We as parliamentarians did genuinely work to try to get the best possible outcome because we do not want to revisit this legislation. It has taken long enough to come into being today. 
I believe that on balance this is an outstanding bill. I do not share the concerns and fears that have been quite legitimately expressed by the Green Party and United Future. They are perfectly entitled to their views. On the basis of my understanding of the health environment in which this bill will now become law I do not share their views at all. I hope that over time New Zealanders too will gain confidence in this legislation. It is very important legislation for New Zealand. I congratulate Dianne Yates.