Hutchison Paul: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Hutchison Paul: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:20702] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 My view is that this is a very sad day because the Labour Government is imposing a blanket moratorium on a very promising technique that could help tens of thousands of New Zealanders in about the crudest most unthinking way possible. There is no doubt that a moratorium which is what is being imposed until at least December 2006—and it could be extended—is an absolutely unthinking way to manage critical medical research. We have just heard the Associate Minister of Health say that all xenotransplantation should be basically stopped in New Zealand. He probably has not even bothered to read the Ministry of Health’s report to the Health Committee which describes the vast spectrum of techniques that are available. They do not just include organ transplantation. They include cellular xenotransplantation and external xenotransplantation therapy. 
It seems ridiculous that we have in this country technology that 5 or 6 years ago might have seemed to carry a degree of risk—even though it was used here on six patients some of whom have demonstrated that it is successful and there has been no evidence whatsoever of risk—but that in the meantime has been shown to be much less risky than it was thought to be. Yet the Government instead of being prepared to look at scientific process has put its head in the sand and said that it will not listen and that it will clamp an unthinking moratorium on that technology. That is the level to which this Labour Government has fallen. That is its approach to science. 
Even worse the report of the Health Committee in the name of Steve Chadwick the chairperson stated that the committee considered that the content of this bill was straightforward and uncontroversial. Well the bill is neither straightforward nor uncontroversial and it penalises tens of thousands of New Zealanders who suffer from diabetes and many other conditions. No submissions on the bill were allowed despite requests from the National Party and I believe the ACT party and from bodies like Diabetes New Zealand the Royal Society of New Zealand the New Zealand Association of Scientists and the New Zealand Biotechnology Association all of which are hugely interested in progressing biotechnology in New Zealand. 
Perhaps even more poignant and relevant is a letter I received addressed to the Hon Annette King and dated 13 May from Living Cell Technologies. It is from Dr Tan the managing director and an internationally recognised biotechnologist. The letter states: “Living Cell Technologies understands that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the extension of the moratorium on xenotransplantation. This letter is to update you on current developments relative to the moratorium and urge Government to consider lifting the moratorium with respect to transplantation using cells from animals that are not genetically modified. As an international company Living Cell Technologies has kept up to date on progress in this field in the USA and Europe. In recent years new scientific information supporting the safety of xenotransplantation has been published. LCT wishes to make available its own information and perspective.” 
Further the letter states that in 2004 the Government-sponsored body Investment New Zealand introduced Living Cell Technologies to a xenotransplantation company in China China Shanghai SeeinglongBiopharmaceutics Ltd. Living Cell Technologies states it is pleased to support the message that New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world that is free of transmittable spongiform encephalitis in farm animals and hence is an ideal source of high-health-standards animals as a source of cells for medical therapeutics. 
I think it is worthwhile to read out Dr Tan’s concluding remarks: “Rather than maintain the current status in which xenotransplantation is available to New Zealanders who can afford to go to China or Mexico”—known as “xenotourism”—“we respectfully urge Government to review recent information available since the introduction of the moratorium and permit the conduct of clinical trials in xenotransplantation. Such trials would be strictly conducted in a manner regulated and ethically approved by the Department of Health.” That is an eminently sensible approach. It is an approach based on evidence and on risk management. Yet what does this Labour Government do? It imposes a blanket moratorium on hugely legitimate research that should be carried out here in New Zealand. 
It is no wonder New Zealand scientists are heading overseas to work. It is no wonder New Zealand Crown research institutes are finding that because of the regulatory hurdles they just cannot do genomic work in New Zealand—work that in the case of many Crown research institutes like HortResearch AgResearch and Crop and Food Research amounts to something like 60 percent of their work. They have to do that work overseas contracted outside New Zealand and are losing the critical mass of people and the critical skills required to keep up to date in the area. It is important not only for the biotechnology industry but also for all of us in New Zealand to have a critical mass of scientists who are aware of the possible biosecurity problems that we face. We have to be able to recognise things. We were not able to recognise the varroa bee mite until it was endemic in New Zealand. Things like the foot-and-mouth scare could have huge implications. If we do not have a critical mass of scientists who have the ability to recognise those problems then incursions will occur unnecessarily when they could have been prevented. It is the Labour Government’s attitude towards science that perpetuates the problem. 
The letter goes on to state that Living Cell Technologies’ current intention is to conduct Food and Drug Administration - approved trials for a neurological disorder Huntington’s disease and for type 1 diabetes in the USA. However Living Cell Technologies would reallocate its resources towards conducting a trial in New Zealand if such trials were approvable. That is a tragedy for New Zealand. Finally the letter states: “LCT’s technologies are New Zealand inventions and it would give Living Cell Technology’s founders much satisfaction to see these continue to be developed from New Zealand and take advantage of the country’s unique high-health-status animals and high standards of animal care and husbandry.” 
It is with great sadness that I see across the House a Labour Government that is not prepared to look at progress in science. It wants to impose a blanket moratorium on very innovative and ingenious work that has been instigated here in New Zealand. Living Cell Technologies initially had to go to Australia. It still has its biology technology here in New Zealand but it looks as though it will have to do the work in America. That is a tragedy for New Zealand. It is a tragedy for many tens of thousands of diabetics around the world. And that is all being imposed unnecessarily by a Luddite Labour Government that has an absolutely anti-progressive attitude towards science.