Rich Katherine: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Rich Katherine: Medicines (Specified Biotechnical Procedures)  Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:625;Page:20595] 
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
: 
 As we heard from my learned colleague Paul Hutchison the National Party is not supporting this bill for a number of very good reasons. There is no support for the bill whatsoever. There is no basis in science to support the bill and there is no logic associated with the decision to extend the moratorium. The decision to do that is based on absolute ignorance and on a desire I think on the part of Labour to push a contentious issue to one side until after the election. 
We on the Health Committee were very concerned that we were unable even to call for submissions or for expert opinions to be heard so that we could find out whether the bill was a good or a bad thing for New Zealand science and for New Zealand people waiting for life-saving operations and treatments. Paul Hutchison asked for the opportunity to have submissions heard but that was rejected. So with this bill there has been no consultation whatsoever. Labour has just made a blanket decision to extend the moratorium which is very much a Luddite approach to trying to deal with some very difficult issues. 
At the moment many many New Zealanders are waiting for life-saving operations and treatments. This bill does not reflect any of their concerns. It does nothing for those people who are waiting for science to provide them with hopefully effective treatment. Labour is continuing to ignore the human face of this issue. Members on this side of the Chamber wanted an opportunity to debate the issue at select committee level but we were denied the opportunity to hear submissions—to hear from people about their concerns. 
There are concerns among people in the scientific community because of course this legislation puts a damper on a lot of areas of scientific work particularly the work of those at the forefront of scientific endeavour; it makes it very difficult to conduct certain types of work in this country. We were also denied the opportunity to hear from the many many New Zealanders who are keen on seeing scientific advances in those areas. We have seen some of the treatments that have been developed for people who suffer diabetes. That work cannot be done here now. Some people are waiting for kidney or liver transplants or for transplants of other organs but because there are not enough human donors they have to look elsewhere. 
I think that the Government is trying to make up some of the cultural aspects that do not support xenotransplantation but I say that people who do have concerns about those aspects do not have to go through the scientific work—they do not have to front up to be part of a trial; they do not have to try the new technology. But for heaven’s sake that opportunity should not be denied to those New Zealanders who do want to try different options in order either to preserve their lives or to increase dramatically their ability to enjoy their lives. My father is one of those people who are waiting for a kidney. He has no access to kidneys within the family and frankly I know that if he could get a pig kidney he would be more than happy to line up for the trial. 
Those technologies are developing. We are not talking about mad scientists who are putting together all sorts of weird and wonderful projects; we are talking about good methodical science that is already being done and about our ability to do those trials in this country. We have the brains and the people to do that kind of work. We should allow New Zealanders to make up their own minds about the risks and effects of taking part in a trial. If we look at the diabetes trial that Bob Elliot put together we see that many many people with diabetes said they understood the risks and the fact that some aspects might not work but that even with those risks they felt they would be better off than they were in their current situation. But they were denied the opportunity to take part in that trial. 
This moratorium is basically a slap in the face for all those New Zealanders who are facing health concerns because it puts on the back burner a lot of the work that would have put them in a better position. The decision to extend the moratorium is not based on science or logic; it is based on absolute ignorance and political expediency. It is just an outrage that we have not been able to debate the bill at the select committee level. The whole thing has been slipped through with very little process.