Key says he’ll back medicines agency bill
5:00AM Wednesday August 01, 2007
By Audrey Young
John Key states he will sign a compromise proposal to regulate medicines in New Zealand.
Related nzherald links:
National Party leader John Key says he will sign up to the two-tiered compromise proposal on a transtasman therapeutics agency, a breakthrough that could see legislation taken off ice and passed by Christmas.
The news last night shocked the Government, but it welcomed what it described as “a major change” following its admission of defeat on the legislation just over two weeks ago.
National and Labour have disagreed over whether the proposal was ever properly put to National, but Mr Key is firm on what his response would be today.
“If they came to us now with that proposal, we will sign it,” Mr Key said yesterday in an interview with the Herald.
“We sat there waiting for it to turn up. No one has ever seen it.”
He said the breakdown in negotiations on the therapeutics agency was Labour’s fault, not National’s.
Labour had taken the view that it did not need National and therefore did not engage with it.
“And at the last minute they worked [out] that they did,” Mr Key said.
Well, that doesn’t make us the bad guy. So bring us the proposal and we’ll bring our pen. We’re on.”
While he insists that National’s position is the same as it has always been, he has never previously said he would sign up to it.
Annette King, the minister in charge of negotiations on the agency, said last night that she would discuss the development with Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Ms King believed it would be too late for the Australian Parliament to do anything before it rises this month from its final session before the general election in October or November.
But with Mr Key’s assurance, she would be able to revive the proposal with the new Australian Government, be it Liberal or Labor led, because they were taking a bipartisan approach.
The legislation is sitting suspended on the New Zealand Parliament’s order paper and could be revived at any time.
Ms King said it could be back in the House and passed before Christmas.
“If there is chance to resurrect it I will be in like a shot because I firmly believe it is in the best interests of New Zealand.”
She would be happy to pass responsibility to someone else if the relationship between her and National health spokesman Tony Ryall was too poisonous to advance it.
“It may be leader to leader.”
She said Mr Key’s statement was “definitely new”.
“It’s a major change.”
The proposal was developed by New Zealand First leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
It dilutes the original all-in plan for a two-tiered regime.
The transtasman agency would regulate all goods destined for the Australian market.
Complementary medicines produced only for the New Zealand market could opt to be regulated by the agency or to come under a lighter domestic regime, yet to be established.
Ms King flew to Canberra in June to discuss the compromise proposal with Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott - after it was originally raised by MP Gordon Copeland when he went independent - and he told her he believed he could get it through the Australian Cabinet. Mr Peters developed it further.
Mr Peters is in Manila at the Asean Regional Forum meeting and said through a spokesman that his proposal had been sent to all political parties. National’s had been sent to Gerry Brownlee.
He said Mr Key’s comments showed “confusion and obfuscation in the National Party, an inability to make a decision and a lack of leadership”.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will meet Mr Peters in Auckland on Sunday after speaking to the National Party conference.
2 Comments
Blog: I’m bloody angry with Key
Page 1 of 6 View as a single page 11:55AM Wednesday August 01, 2007
By Audrey Young
Audrey Young on Politics
* Blog: Transparency lost in therapeutic medicines debate
* Blog: Resolving conflicts of interest
John Key has just issued a press statement saying my story in today’s Herald on the transtasman therapeutics regulatory agency misrepresents him.
I’m bloody angry because his press statement totally misrepresents what took place yesterday.
He clearly suggested that if Labour presented him with a proposal like the one Peters put up - one that carves out complementary medicines except for those who export to Australia and have a voluntary opt-in - he would sign it.
I can only suspect that Tony Ryall - his chief negotiator on the bill - has gone ballistic and Key has had to back away from the clear and repetitive suggestion he made yesterday in the company of three senior Herald journalists that if he was presented with a proposal like the one Peters put up that he would sign it.
I have checked with my other two colleagues, John Armstrong and Paula Oliver, who were there (we were interviewing him and Bill English ahead of the National Party conference this weekend).
They also came away with the clear view that National had not been presented with the Peters proposal - which is pretty appalling on Labour’s part - and that if he were, he would sign it.
But don’t take my word for it. Read it for yourself. Naturally I had my tape running in the interview - there were four tapes on it.
Here’s the best bits:
Key: It’s pretty straightforward isn’t it? It’s all very well people having a whack at us, but if they want to bring us a proposal in line with what Peters said on television, we’ll sign it. I keep asking for it. No one has shown it to me.”
Here is another extract where you’ll see that I was so flabbergasted that I asked him if he had heard the question. The most salient parts are in bold.
Key: The New Zealand perspective on how Australia views this is overrated. I think they’ve said `look it is an issue but there’s lots of other things out there.’
As for Winston Peters’ proposal, a press release does not make a proposal. If someone wants to show us a proposal and it does what it says and carves out complementaries with a voluntary opt-in, we’ll sign it.
Herald: If they came to you now would you sign it?
Key: Yep. It is parked on the order paper. Our position has always been carve out complementaries with a voluntary opt-in regime.
Herald: Did you hear her question?
Key: If they came to us now with that proposal we will sign it.
Herald: So it is a do-able deal now?
Send us Your Comments
Will Nz come to the party and join Australia? Personally I think there is room for some harmonisation between the two countries , however I am concerned that Australia is driven too heavily by the global market in the medicine arena and that here in Australia we may go too far into the pharmaceutical closed shop model that is being encouraged with codex. I would hate to see NZ fall into this trap simply because they are tied up too tightly with Australia and are unable to alter their policy in the future when it is too late. Traditional, cultural and food as medicine all have their rightful place in every home and everyone has the right to knowledge education , understanding and availability of simple home remedies in whatever form they may take. Love Dom ox