Coleman Jonathan: Coroners Bill — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: Coroners Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:633;Page:4712] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 In speaking to the title of the Coroners Bill I believe that it is useful to go over the real purpose of this legislation before the Committee because it is easy to lose sight of its true objectives. Its purpose is to help prevent deaths and to promote justice. 
For years in New Zealand we have had a very efficient coronial system that has been staffed by highly professional coroners many of whom have given up other professional obligations to give service to their communities. Many coroners have come from the legal profession and some of them have continued legal practice. Some of them have been medical practitioners and quite a number have been retired policemen. Those people have taken up this work because there has been a need for it in the community. We should reflect that the reason for any coronial inquest is to prevent future deaths occurring in similar circumstances so the role of the coroner is a very important one in our society. 
This legislation will establish a chief coroner and it will establish professional standards for coroners. I know coroners have always acted in a professional manner but the legislation will put some formality around that profession. As we have heard there will be 20 full-time coroners throughout the country. The aim of that and I believe the purpose it will achieve is that wherever people go in New Zealand and have cause to have contact with a coroner—a time of great distress for any family—they will be assured that they will be subjected to a standard set of processes and that those processes will be appropriate to New Zealand society and the community we live in. There is no doubt that our society has changed and it is important that the coroner’s function actually reflects the needs of the society it serves. I know that in past years there have been issues around the release of bodies to certain groups in time to have funerals and that has created a great deal of distress. Now under this legislation there will be some certainty and some standardisation and all New Zealanders will know what they can expect when they deal with the coronial office. 
But as members have already heard the National Party is concerned about the unconstitutional nature of the idea of just dismissing existing coroners. People will be told that they after years of service are no longer welcome. Members may yawn but the reality is that that is a most unfair way to treat someone who has given years of service to the community. Members have to ask why anyone would take up a position of service to the community when that is the treatment that could be expected. 
The second element that the National Party takes slight issue with but is supporting—although is watching with a sceptical eye—is that of the reporting of suicides in the media. As we heard in question time today there has been a 20 percent increase in suicide attempts in the last 7 years and a 45 percent increase in attempted suicides amongst young women aged 15 to 24. If members look at the actual outcomes of mental illness they will see that that is a clearly measurable outcome; it is something we really have to be concerned about. 
 I would say that it is debatable whether suppressing discussion in the media is really in the community’s best interests. We have to look at how people in those age groups actually communicate. People in the 15 to 24-year-old group get a lot of their information now through the Internet or text-messaging and not necessarily through the print media. So making parents and family members aware of issues around youth suicide may actually be of greater overall benefit to society as a whole. I think we need to be really quite cautionary in saying that we are keen to have a long-term blanket ban on media reporting of suicide. I also have to note that New Zealand has the most stringent rules in the Western World around media reporting of suicide. There was of course last year in Gore a situation of seven youth suicides spread over a space of just a few short months that was shattering for that community and there was some speculation as to whether media coverage might have played some role. But I think on balance there is some benefit to media transparency.