Rich Katherine: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Rich Katherine: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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KATHERINE RICH (National) 
: 
 The National Party is not supporting the Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures) Amendment Bill for a number of very important reasons. The first reason is that we do not believe that the Government has truly evaluated the scientific impact of increasing the moratorium on that kind of work. Time and time again scientists have complained that they are not able to do the work they want to do in order to stay at the top of their game. We are seeing too many scientists leave the country because of the regulations and rules here that do not allow them to be at the forefront of their scientific research or to ensure they are able to maintain their reputations. 
The second reason which I suppose is indicative of the Luddite approach this Government has taken is that if there are unknowns the Government has a King Canute “hold back the tides” style of approach and it puts a moratorium on things so that work cannot be done. In fact that is not a way of trying to deal with the situation at all. 
The people involved in that kind of research take their work very seriously; they are not mad scientists. They want to provide new solutions for New Zealanders many of whom are waiting for life-saving treatments and operations. We need to remember the human face of this particular problem. 
In this country we have a low donation rate for organs. We have low donation rates for kidneys and livers. Many many people are on dialysis or are facing all sorts of health issues because they cannot get transplants. There simply are not enough live human donors to be able to give them other options. 
Today we heard Judy Turner bring up an issue that I think indicates the problems faced by many of those people waiting for organs—the problems we currently have with our renal dialysis units. A growing number of people are waiting for transplants and they are trying to fit into dialysis units that are already bursting at the seams particularly in the North Island. Given the rising number of diabetics and people requiring dialysis as a result of obesity or ethnic predisposition to kidney problems we will be facing a huge problem in this country when it comes to providing renal dialysis for a huge number of New Zealanders. There will simply not be enough donors for those people and we have to look at other options. 
Xenotransplantation if approached in a very careful way can provide solutions for many New Zealanders but as far as this bill is concerned it is as if the people do not matter. The Government seems to think that the people waiting for those life-saving operations have time on their hands. The Government wants to look as if it is doing something greenish in that area but it just wants to put science on hold as opposed to letting reasonable people go about their work so that hopefully they can provide some life-saving solutions for those Kiwis in the long term. 
There has been a consultation process which I have to describe as a bit of a sham. Up and down the country there was some so-called public consultation but it was not well-publicised and none of the consultations were well-attended. People who took part in some of those consultations came back with absolutely bizarre stories of people turning up and being concerned that if a person had a kidney replaced with a pig’s kidney that person would start acting like a pig. That just shows that the level of knowledge out there is absolutely ridiculous. 
I am concerned that a number of new reasons are being dreamt up every day to work against what could be a life-saving solution for many many New Zealanders. The issue of cultural sensitivity has been raised time and time again as an example of why we should tread carefully. Well I have to say that if people are going to use cultural sensitivity as a way of slowing this work down they must think twice. People do not have to have kidney transplants or liver transplants if they are totally against those procedures. They do not have to take part in scientific trials if they think it would be to the detriment of their health but for heaven’s sake they should not disallow such a procedure for other Kiwis who are quite happy to take the risk because it might make a difference to their lives. The opponents of that work should not stand in the way of Kiwis who have no other options—who are facing death or such deterioration that their quality of life is hugely affected. 
So this bill is nothing more than a delaying tactic. There is no logic behind it and there is no scientific merit in it either. There is a lot of hysteria which has been beaten up by the Government. A lot of populist reasons are given for supporting this bill but those reasons do not stack up either scientifically or logically and it seems to me that the Government has forgotten the people in New Zealand who are waiting desperately to get those sorts of operations. 
For example people might take the opportunity to get a pig kidney transplant because they have been on dialysis for many many years. Anybody who has seen someone go through dialysis knows that it is an incredibly difficult procedure to go through. It is a very oppressive procedure to go through and it has a huge impact on people’s lives. 
So I say to the Government members who are putting this bill forward that they should explain their logic because I cannot see any. While they are wanting to look as if they are being green and reacting to concerns I do not see those concerns being raised. Government members are trying to whip up concern by going through this sham of a consultation process and by dreaming up all sort of reasons why xenotransplantation is a bad idea but there has been no groundswell of support. 
One of the things that a person who attended a consultation pointed out to me was the fact that the consultations were very poorly attended. The public were not well informed that there was a consultation process in place and in fact a lot of the different groups that actually speak on behalf of Kiwis waiting for life-saving operations were not even in a position to let their members know to go along and take part. 
What we are talking about here is delaying science. What we are talking about here is delaying the opportunity for New Zealand scientists to take part and contribute at the forefront of scientific endeavour. We are seeing nothing more than a Luddite approach to dealing with some serious issues. By all means let us ensure that good science is being undertaken in this country and that research funded by Kiwi taxpayers is good evidence-based scientific research. But let us stop pretending that those scientists who work within our Crown research institutes and universities are mad weirdoes who need heavy regulation to stop them going off and undertaking Frankenstein-like scientific projects. It simply will not happen. 
While hysteria is beaten up and those sorts of examples are given we have people waiting for dialysis at a cost of $1500 a week. We are not able to get good numbers of donors because the number of live human donors required is simply not available. By all means let us look at other solutions then so that we can get those people waiting back into a fully active life and let us stop pretending that there is some logical reason for holding back the scientific tide. 
There is no reason for delay. It seems just a small delay and not a huge amount of time yet in the scientific world it is a huge amount of time. Time waits for no scientific men or women who are trying to maintain their scientific reputations at the forefront of that kind of work. It is no wonder New Zealand is seen as being a bit of a scientific backwater these days because so many of our best and brightest have gone offshore so that they can continue working at a level that befits their reputations. 
This sort of piecemeal approach to extending moratoriums is not based in logic and it is certainly not based in science. I do not think it is a compassionate approach to dealing with the growing problem we have in this country—that is the problem of the number of people facing kidney disease a problem that is endemic within our society. If we do not start looking at other solutions some of the systems we have in place will not be sustainable. 
Trying to get on dialysis treatment in Auckland right now means facing a real difficulty. It was one issue that came up time and time again when we spoke to district health boards. The rate of increased use of dialysis units is growing at an unsustainable level. 
Why are we closing our minds to different alternatives? Why are we pretending that scientific endeavour can be put on hold so that the Government can make political capital out of a very serious issue?