Henare PeeniHon PEENI HENARE (Labour): Well well well we've heard it all now from big pharma; we've heard it all now from the people who don't understand this bill whatsoever. We've heard it through the election campaign where they told and promised the New Zealand public We're going to change the way Pharmac do things. We're going to change the Therapeutic Products Act." Then they got here and went "Oh my gosh! That's actually a bit harder than we thought it was." That actually they've got to come to this House and explain through the process of democracy how they're going to do that. We haven't seen that today. What we've heard is a repeal with no answers.But Mr Stephenson just gave us a glimpse into what the ACT Party are going to do: they're going to ram regulations and laws through in this House probably under urgency not listening to the people. That's why we're here today—that's why we're here today. I can tell Mr Stephenson in the 135 meetings I had up and down the country he wasn't at one of them. He absolutely wasn't at one of them. I went to maraes convention centres offices and health centres and that man wasn't there. So he can stand up all he wants; his view on this reminds me of view on the arts: it's non-existent.When this bill is interrogated as it moves forward we want to see from this Government what's going to replace it because all we're seeing is repeal and that's about it. Nothing else. We'll probably be here in urgency which I know that side of the House hates which is why I'm going to take my full five minutes today. Buckle in whānau! Buckle in! We're going all the way.What we know with respect to rongoa Māori and the natural health products is it's very clear that it's important to listen to the people. When I went around the country to make sure that we heard the voices of the people we managed to find a way forward in order to support that sector—so much so that ACC now allows rongoa Māori to service those whānau who need to access rongoa Māori who choose to access rongoa Māori.I've got a bit of rongoa Māori for the other side of the House: if you grab the patete leaf you boil it till it makes a pulp you rub it on your ears and it will help your hearing. That's what the other side of the House needs to do. Under the old Therapeutic Products Act we made sure that that was still possible. We not only protected rongoa Māori we allowed it a future to continue to help service the health needs of this country. So we will be looking towards what this Government is going to put in place to replace this.The other thing is we want to make sure as Mr Stephenson said we've got to listen to the people. If we are back here in urgency pushing through the next piece of legislation on the therapeutic products they're going to hear all about. For far too many times over the past eight months they have sidestepped democracy in this country in the hope that they can help their friends in big pharma. I'm going to put it out on the record because that's what's happening. We heard it very clearly from Mr Stephenson.Now what I want to know as I look across the three headed taniwha which is the coalition Government: this time is it the tail wagging the dog or is it the head wagging the rest of the tail? Because what I heard from ACT today is a clear insult to the public of New Zealand who shared their views on this particular legislation. They did so for over 15 years. Now ACT come in here and all of a sudden Mr Stephenson—who's probably five foot one at a stretch—now thinks he's six foot 10. That doesn't happen that way. We're going to be here to push the ACT Party who got a small percentage of the party vote who are now trying to wag the tail of the dog.This is going to be a fascinating debate because as we talk rongoa Māori as we talk about natural health products as we talk about the instruments of health that my colleague Dr Ayesha Verrall talked about today everyone in this family of MPs here will know somebody who's had to use those particular facilities. They'll know somebody who has had a bit to do with the rongoa Māori. In fact I suspect that as we debate this bill many of them will have a come to Jesus moment. They'll stand there in a moment of clarity and they'll say to themselves "By crikey! Are we doing the right thing? Maybe we should go back to how it was. Maybe the 15 years of work by experts on this know better than the people who are here in this House." I'm going to put that on the record here. Of course we oppose this amendment bill—of course we oppose it. I look forward as this Government introduces more regulations to holding their feet to the fire on this matter. But that's OK because I've got another rongoa when your foot burns."