The Green Party is challenging the Minister of Health, David Cunliffe, to tell the electorate before November 8th where the Labour Party stands on the Therapeutic Products and Medicines bill, which generated so much opposition in the last term of Parliament.

"I challenge the Minister to tell the electorate whether he will support a New Zealand based regulatory regime for dietary supplements, which the industry has come up with, instead," Green Party MP Sue Kedgley says.

"Many New Zealanders are passionately opposed to the Labour Party’s attempt to regulate the dietary supplements industry through a heavy handed, Australian-based regime, and they want to know if Labour has given up on this policy or not.

"Labour has been strangely silent on this issue since it was forced to drop the bill for lack of support in Parliament. They owe it to the electorate to give a straight answer on where they stand on the bill, and if they have given up on their foolhardy attempt to hand over control of our dietary supplements industry to an Australian regulator.

"The Green Party remains implacably opposed to the Therapeutic Products and Medicines bill, and any attempts to undermine our industry by handing control to an Australian based regulator," Ms Kedgley says.

"We also oppose any efforts to regulate dietary supplements as if they were pharmaceuticals, and to prevent dietary supplement manufacturers from being able to make legitimate claims.

"We strongly support the natural products industry in New Zealand, and holistic healthcare, and we want to see the New Zealand based regulatory regime that the natural healthcare industry has come up with, in place instead.

"We are delighted that we secured funding to set up a small Integrated Healthcare Unit within the Ministry of Health, to look at ways of integrating natural healthcare into mainstream health. We want to see natural health practitioners working alongside other health professionals in Public Health Organisations, and in wellness centres around New Zealand."

Sue Kedgley MP Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Room 8.06 Bowen House Parliament Buildings, Wellington Ph: 04-817-6717 Fax: 04-472-6003
Email: sue.kedgley@parliament.govt.nz

'Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food' Hippocrates 400 BC

Great : Thanks for this Stephen.

This is all such important information: I have just emailed Helen Clark and David Cunliffe to solicit their response and let them know that I and a large network I have connection to, will be seeking honesty and open listening (at very least !!!) from a Labour or ANY government, who supposes to represent it's population and their wellbeing.

On the back of this too, there is a very good movie now available on DVD called FOOD MATTERS which clarifies over and over where we as a nation have been 'sickening ourselves' and where we are BEST guided to create health and wellbeing for ourselves : the movie can be previewed here, http://www.holisticliving.co.nz/members/holisticliving/videos/VIEW/00000073/Food-Matters.html

Or downloaded or dvd bought at www.foodmatters.tv

Please do get in touch directly with me if there's anything else in this realm I can pass on or connect people with

Martin Gray (martin@martingray.co.nz)