Senator PATTERSON (Minister for Health and Ageing) (9:10 PM) —The review of the Australian blood and blood products sector conducted by Sir Ninian Stephen made a number of recommendations about reforms to the Australian blood sector that are set out in the National Blood Authority Bill 2002. The provisions contained in this bill will strengthen accountability in the blood sector and ensure that Australia's blood supply continues to be safe, secure, adequate and affordable. Governments will be provided with better information to determine appropriate supplies of blood products and services in response to clinical need. Mechanisms will also be provided to ensure evidence based assessment of proposed new products, services and technologies through transparent evaluation of health gain.

The establishment of the National Blood Authority is central to the achievement of these aims and will ensure the protection of consumers and the maintenance of public confidence in Australia's blood supply. The bill sets out the necessary operational elements to establish the National Blood Authority to undertake its primary task of managing and oversighting Australia's blood supply on behalf of all jurisdictions. While the National Blood Authority will undertake a liaison and coordination role in relation to the safety and quality of blood products and services, it will not be a regulator. The safety and quality of the Australian blood supply remains the job of the Therapeutic Goods Administration on behalf of all jurisdictions.

The bill creates the office of the general manager who will be responsible for the conduct of the National Blood Authority's functions and in whom statutory powers will vest. The bill also establishes a board which will advise the general manager—and I need to emphasise that; it will be acting in an advisory role—on the conduct of the National Blood Authority's functions. The expected commencement date of the National Blood Authority and of the new arrangements more broadly is 1 July 2003. Subject to the passage of this bill by parliament, jurisdictions continue to work together to put in place detailed arrangements to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements with no disruption to the national blood supply.

I want now to respond to some of the issues that have been raised in the debate so far. As I represent the government I can say that the government will not be supporting the Democrat amendments. I want to reply to the points about the National Blood Authority board. All Australian governments have agreed through the national blood agreement to the composition of the National Blood Authority advisory—and again I stress `advisory'—board and the process by which members are selected and appointed. The agreement is reflected in clauses 14 and 15 of the bill.

Members of the National Blood Authority advisory board will be appointed by the Minister for Health and Ageing—and I happen to be the minister at the moment, and hopefully for a long moment, but none of us stays on here forever—but only after the minister is satisfied that key criteria set out in the bill are met as follows: all members have been selected by the ministerial council; the chair is considered by the ministerial council to be independent of the interests of suppliers and all governments; the Commonwealth has nominated the person selected to represent its interests and the person selected to represent the interests of the states and territories had been nominated by the states and territory governments. This process provides significant checks and balances by requiring the agreement of the nine Australian governments to the appointments. The board will have a balanced membership comprising an independent chair, a Commonwealth member, individuals representing the collective interests of the states and territories and the community, and the necessary financial and public health expertise to enable the board to advise the NBA in the conduct of its functions. The Howard government is committed to appointments to the board that are relevant to their task and able to reflect the needs of the Australian community.

The bill contains further safeguards for these appointments: all appointees will be required to give undertakings about conflicts of interest prior to the formalisation of their appointment and members will be subject to legislative provisions to maintain confidentiality in the course of undertaking their board duties. The bill contains specific provisions about the termination of board members in the event of bankruptcy, lengthy absence from board duties or paid employment that could conflict with the performance of duties as a board member.

With regard to the general manager, the bill creates the statutory office of the General Manager of the National Blood Authority. All Australian governments have agreed to the creation of this office in the National Blood Agreement, and it is set out in section 27 of the bill. The general manager will be appointed by the minister in consultation with the National Blood Authority. The usual merit selection processes that are the basis of all Commonwealth appointments will apply to this appointment. The position will be advertised nationally to attract the broadest possible field and there will be a competitive process to ensure the appointment of the best candidate to this very important position. The bill contains a number of checks and balances. The successful appointee, as the head of the National Blood Authority, will be subject to the constraints in the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 in relation to financial management and to the Public Service Act 1999 in relation to staffing matters. The general manager's remuneration will be set by the independent Remuneration Tribunal and the general manager will be required to declare all interests, pecuniary or otherwise, that could conflict with the proper performance of the duties of the general manager. The bill also contains provisions for the termination of the appointment of the general manager on a number of grounds, including bankruptcy, extended absence, engaging in paid employment outside of the duties of the general manager without approval, or failing to give notice of any conflicts of interest.

Although it is tangential to this bill, Senator Harradine's raises a matter of interest—that is, hepatitis C and the issue of blood in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I did refer this to Professor Barraclough, a distinguished medico, who is chairing our quality and safety council, and Professor Barraclough presented me with a report late last week. I wish I had 30 hours in the day, but I do not. I have given that report a cursory glance, but I want to look at it in more detail. It is very important that I have the states' response to that report since the states were responsible for blood supply during that period. It is important that they respond to that report as well. I know that is going to cause some grief to people who have a personal interest in this issue, but I need to follow due process. I did actually contact Senator Harradine, given his particular interest in this matter, advising him when I received the report and indicating it would take some time before I could get a response from the states and that I needed to consider Professor Barraclough's report not only in depth but also in conjunction with the relevant state ministers. As I said, blood supplies were the responsibility of the states. That issue actually highlights the need for a national blood authority, so I strongly commend this bill to the house.

Senator Harradine also indicated that he had a concern that the National Blood Authority would not be accountable to this place. We have some other models, such as the Australia-New Zealand food and safety council, where we have a similar structure and where the general manager has to appear at estimates and respond to any questions. The same will happen here. The general manager reports to the minister for health and, in the process that we have when we indicated that we want to call people to estimates, would be required to present at estimates and answer any questions relating to the National Blood Authority. I think there is accountability in that process that this parliament has access to. It has the ability to question ad infinitum, as sometimes happens at estimates, the General Manager of the National Blood Authority. I commend the bill to the Senate. I had hoped it would go through at lunchtime. I think it is an important bill and I hope that we can speedily bring this to a conclusion tonight. I reiterate that we will not be supporting the Democrats' amendments.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.