I've been speaking with some of the "movers and shakers" within the Natural Health Sector, and they confirm our worst fears about the Therapeutic Products Bill. As written, this legislation is so complex, open-ended and punitive that nobody working in natural health would ever consent to what is being proposed. It is the regulatory capture of our food and natural medicine of the highest order. If it passes and becomes law, the natural health sector will be decimated, not just of practitioners but also of most imported and locally made products.
For example, if a product is to be imported, its labelling must be modified to comply with the proposed new regulations. Failure to do so may result in a five-year prison term and a $200,000 fine, not to mention the legal costs of defending a prosecution. Since the NZ market is no more than 0.5% of the manufacturer's production, they will cut us out because relabelling a production run just for NZ is out of the question.
Another example that borders on the ridiculous: If the "Regulator" was to place a 500mg maximum on the allowable daily dose of vitamin C and a health professional was to recommend that a person take 1,000mg per day during a viral infection, then that professional may be liable to imprisonment and a massive fine. Or, let's say the health professional claimed, based on peer-reviewed research, that taking extra vitamin C reduces viral symptoms. Yet, if this claim is not "approved" by the Regulator, they will be liable to prosecution.
So we are looking at product claims and product use being regulated to death. The Regulator is getting into the clinic, inserting their oppressive bureucracy between the patient and the health professional. They have no place at all within the clinic's privacy.
A further example is therapeutic devices. Take hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), an emerging area of drug-free medicine. HBOT gets many people a lot better and even drug-free. An adequately set up HBOT clinic with medical support is not cheap to set up, and its running costs are not insignificant. Unfortunately, it appears the Therapeutics Products Bill erects more regulatory hurdles and hoops, some flaming, that must be jumped over and through many times and at high cost before a clinic offering so-called "alternative therapies" such as HBOT can safely commence operation without risk of prosecution, let alone be permitted to make a single health claim! The unfortunate outcome is there will be fewer services such as HBOT and those clinics that remain will cost a lot more to use.
You and your family are being cynically squeezed more and more into the Big Pharma arena, including endless jabbing with mRNA drugs, and Frankenfoods that come with spurious health claims, while fresh, natural foods will be enjoyed only by the rich and the powerful.
What is in this Bill borders on the unbelievable. Your access to information about natural health, healthy foods themselves and all forms of natural health remedies will be restricted, too expensive, or entirely off the table. Furthermore, natural health practitioners will be gone. I'll be gone because I'm not prepared to risk imprisonment or financial ruin for speaking about health topics and practices that are factually correct but still not approved by the Regulator.
Who is your Government working for? Are they working for you? Did you vote for any of this stuff? Were you consulted before they wrote this Draconian rubbish?
The fightback has begun!
Some good things are happening behind the scenes. While I can't elaborate, I am heartened, and there are some things we desperately need you to do to support the fight back. While certain things quietly progress in the back rooms of politics and commerce, we need to direct the blowtorches of scorn and outrage at the y-fronts and panties of every one of our Members of Parliament. They must feel the heat of public outrage about this unabashed power grab. Your actions are important because, in the end, MPs will either vote for it or not, and we want them to vote against it.
Whoever is behind this insanity must never be allowed to win. So here is what you can do to help.
Put in an objection to the Bill and get everyone in your family and wider networks to do the same (you have until February 15th to get this done, and numbers do count).
Write to your MP and express your objection to the Bill. Better still, write to every MP. (Refer to the bottom of this article for how to do this). Better still, is to visit your MP at their electorate office to speak to them personally.
Tell your MP, the political parties and their leaders that you and your network of people will actively campaign against their re-election if they dare to vote in support of this legislation.
More details are here about how to make an objection:
Sign this petition
While many good people are working hard to understand and expose this complicated and shocking Bill, it would be great if you would support this petition in OurSay
http://oursay.co.nz/index.php/2023/01/22/petition-hands-off-our-food-herbs-and-natural-products/
Each time someone signs this petition, key Ministers and spokespeople get an email. It is a simple and rapid way to remind them who they act for.
How to email broadcast every Member of Parliament
Compose your email to MPs to let them know politely what you think of this Bill.
Suggestion: Make individual freedom of choice a theme that runs through your composition.
Suggestion: Place them on notice that you and your networks of people will actively campaign against their re-election if they vote in favour of this Bill. Be firm but polite - no abuse, please.
Select and copy all of the email addresses below.
Open the "BCC" of your email addressing which is above your draft email and paste all of the emails copied (your email system should recognise each email, so its all done, and so simple!).
Your alternative, and better still, if you have time, is to write a personal email to each MP.
Check your work for grammar, spelling and that the emails have been accepted by your system, then press "send" and the job is done.
Kiritapu.Allan@parliament.govt.nz, ginny.andersen@parliament.govt.nz, Jacinda.Ardern@parliament.govt.nz, Christopher.Baillie@parliament.govt.nz, Andrew.Bayly@parliament.govt.nz, Camilla.Belich@parliament.govt.nz, David.Bennett@parliament.govt.nz, Glen.Bennett@parliament.govt.nz, Christopher.Bishop@parliament.govt.nz, Rachel.Boyack@parliament.govt.nz, Rachel.Brooking@parliament.govt.nz, Simeon.Brown@parliament.govt.nz, Gerard.Brownlee@parliament.govt.nz, Mark.Cameron@parliament.govt.nz, Naisi.Chen@parliament.govt.nz, Karen.Chhour@parliament.govt.nz, David.Clark@parliament.govt.nz, Tamati.Coffey@parliament.govt.nz, Judith.Collins@parliament.govt.nz, Simon.Court@parliament.govt.nz, Liz.Craig@parliament.govt.nz, Marama.Davidson@parliament.govt.nz, Kelvin.Davis@parliament.govt.nz, Jacqui.Dean@parliament.govt.nz, Matt.Doocey@parliament.govt.nz, Paul.Eagle@parliament.govt.nz, Barbara.Edmonds@parliament.govt.nz, JulieAnne.Genter@parliament.govt.nz, Golriz.Ghahraman@parliament.govt.nz, Paul.Goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz, Nicola.Grigg@parliament.govt.nz, Shanan.Halbert@parliament.govt.nz, Peeni.Henare@parliament.govt.nz, Emily.Henderson@parliament.govt.nz, Harete.Hipango@parliament.govt.nz, Chris.Hipkins@parliament.govt.nz, Willie.Jackson@parliament.govt.nz, Anahila.Kanongata'a-Suisuiki@parliament.govt.nz, Elizabeth.Kerekere@parliament.govt.nz, Barbara.Kuriger@parliament.govt.nz, Ingrid.Leary@parliament.govt.nz, AnaeNeru.Leavasa@parliament.govt.nz, Melissa.Lee@parliament.govt.nz, Stephanie.Lewis@parliament.govt.nz, Andrew.Little@parliament.govt.nz, Jan.Logie@parliament.govt.nz, Anna.Lorck@parliament.govt.nz, Marja.Lubeck@parliament.govt.nz, "Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz <Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz>" <Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz>, Jo-Anne.Luxton@parliament.govt.nz, Nanaia.Mahuta@parliament.govt.nz, Kieran.McAnulty@parliament.govt.nz, Todd.McClay@parliament.govt.nz, James.McDowall@parliament.govt.nz, Nicole.McKee@parliament.govt.nz, Ian.Mckelvie@parliament.govt.nz, Tracey.McLellan@parliament.govt.nz, Ricardo.March@parliament.govt.nz, Mark.Mitchell@parliament.govt.nz, Joseph.Mooney@parliament.govt.nz, Todd.Muller@parliament.govt.nz, Stuart.Nash@parliament.govt.nz, Debbie.Ngarewa-Packer@parliament.govt.nz, Terisa.Ngobi@parliament.govt.nz, Damien.O'Connor@parliament.govt.nz, greg.oconnor@parliament.govt.nz, simon.oconnor@parliament.govt.nz, Ibrahim.Omer@parliament.govt.nz, Sarah.Pallett@parliament.govt.nz, David.Parker@parliament.govt.nz, Soraya.Peke-Mason@parliament.govt.nz, chris.penk@parliament.govt.nz, Tama.Potaka@parliament.govt.nz, Willow-Jean.Prime@parliament.govt.nz, Maureen.Pugh@parliament.govt.nz, Priyanca.Radhakrishnan@parliament.govt.nz, "shane.reti@parliament.govt.nz <shane.reti@parliament.govt.nz>" <Shane.Reti@parliament.govt.nz>, Angela.Roberts@parliament.govt.nz, Grant.Robertson@parliament.govt.nz, Daniel.Rosewarne@parliament.govt.nz, Adrian.Rurawhe@parliament.govt.nz, Deborah.Russell@parliament.govt.nz, Eugenie.Sage@parliament.govt.nz, Jenny.Salesa@parliament.govt.nz, Carmel.Sepuloni@parliament.govt.nz, Toni.Severin@parliament.govt.nz, David.Seymour@parliament.govt.nz, James.Shaw@parliament.govt.nz, Penny.Simmonds@parliament.govt.nz, Scott.Simpson@parliament.govt.nz, Aupito.william.sio@parliament.govt.nz, Damien.Smith@parliament.govt.nz, Stuart.Smith@parliament.govt.nz, lemauga.lydia.sosene@parliament.govt.nz, erica.stanford@parliament.govt.nz, Jamie.Strange@parliament.govt.nz, Chlöe Swarbrick <Chloe.Swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz>, Jan.Tinetti@parliament.govt.nz, Rino.Tirikatene@parliament.govt.nz, Teanau.Tuiono@parliament.govt.nz, Philip.Twyford@parliament.govt.nz, Sam.Uffindell@parliament.govt.nz, Louise.Upston@parliament.govt.nz, Tangi.Utikere@parliament.govt.nz, Tim.vandeMolen@parliament.govt.nz, Brooke.vanVelden@parliament.govt.nz, Ayesha.Verrall@parliament.govt.nz, Rawiri.Waititi@parliament.govt.nz, Vanushi.Walters@parliament.govt.nz, Angela.Warren-Clark@parliament.govt.nz, Simon.Watts@parliament.govt.nz, Duncan.Webb@parliament.govt.nz, Meka.Whaitiri@parliament.govt.nz, Helen.White@parliament.govt.nz, Arena.Williams@parliament.govt.nz, poto.williams@parliament.govt.nz, Nicola Willis <Nicola.Willis@parliament.govt.nz>, Michael.Wood@parliament.govt.nz, Michael.Woodhouse@parliament.govt.nz, Megan.Woods@parliament.govt.nz
With your assistance we will defeat this legislation for the third time. We will win because not only do we have commonsense on our side, we also occupy the moral high ground. So, please act now - do not delay.
Thank you!