TURNING UP THE HEAT!
Its time to drop the nice-guy routine in our tussle with the Ministry of Health and their plan to implement the Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty with Australia.

Actions speak louder than words. So what must we do?

Well with the appointment of Peter Hodgson to the position of minister of health and Peter Dunne as associate minister of health in the Helen Clark labour lead government one would have to be suspicious that this may signal a determination by Clark to push the Australian single regulatory regime through following a long series of election-derived delays.

Hodgson a former Minister of Commerce was earlier this year involved in Trans-Tasman arrangements for accounting bodies in Australia and New Zealand with the Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello.

Apparently Hodgson is destined to sit on the Joint Ministerial Council overseeing the Trans-Tasman project with Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Christopher Pyne.

As yet no date has been set for the next Ministerial Council meeting. The Joint Agency Establishment Group said it was awaiting advice from New Zealand

Implementation legislation to establish the Joint Regulatory Agency, including a Bill covering fees and charges, is yet to be seen by any of the health industry stakeholders on either side of the Tasman. However the Bills remain among legislation proposed for introduction in the current Australian parliamentary session which runs until December 8 2005. There have been no scheduled sittings for the New Zealand parliament during the remainder of this year.

In a further move that could affect the future of New Zealand subsidised medicines under Pharmac, Prime Minister Helen Clark has appointed Pharmac critic Peter Dunne as associate minister of health.

Ms Clark’s Labour Party has a confidence and supply agreement with the minor party United Future - which Mr Dunne leads.

The agreement states: "The government has agreed that United Future will be involved in the development of a long term medicines strategy relating to quality pharmaceutical usage in the health sector including the role Pharmac should play in implementing that strategy."

In the lead up to the recent New Zealand election, Mr Dunne repeatedly called for a review of Pharmac, call that was backed by the New Zealand Researched Medicines Industry Association. Association Chief Executive Officer, Lesley Clarke said, "It’s a bit early to be making any definitive assessment of the situation. We don’t yet know what Peter Dunne’s responsibilities will be as Associate Minister of Health and the whole area of confidence and supply agreements along with ministerial responsibilities is new territory for everyone."

It remains to be seen whether the government will obtain support from the minor parties to implement the legislation required to allow the treaty to proceed.

If we don’t provide something substantive, and soon, we may find ourselves too late to do anything about the treaty. There has been speculation from certain factions within our industry that it's already too late.

And since the Lord helps those who help themselves, we have begun the process to educate New Zealanders to increase their awareness and education of what the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and our Ministry of Health are really up to. Read the article in this issue by Janice-Ann Priest and Valemma Wright.

Leadership on this issue on both sides of the Tasman certainly is woeful. The people of New Zealand must be made clearly aware of the stomach-sickening realisation of the greatest crime of all time, the failure of this government to protect the health and welfare of our nation.

This is certainly obvious by this governments Ministry of Health continual interference in our right to a free flow of uncensored information. It is time to take the politics out of healthcare.

This leads me to the H5N1-Bird-Flu fiasco. If the Bird Flu doesn’t kill you the Media hype may!

This virus, found in the digestive tracts of certain Asian birds along with pig digestive tracts was isolated and named in 1997

Since H5N1-"bird flu"-has mutated, as most influenza viruses invariably do, to a human form in 2003, it has been contracted by exactly 116 people. These are mostly bird farmers (and/or their family members), living in close proximity to farm animals with mostly unsanitary conditions in Asian countries.

Since 2003, H5N1-"bird flu"- has killed exactly sixty people worldwide.

When this figure is extrapolated out over the time period containing it, bird flu, mutated to human form, has, on the average, stricken fifty-eight people per year, killing on average, thirty people per year.

That's two-and-a-half people a month.

There have been no known cases of human-to-human transmission in any of the countries to which the avian virus has spread.

Incidentally, with 60 of 116 people dying after being infected with it, the avian flu has barely a 52 percent mortality rate. With the SARS virus and the anthrax scare in 2001 we heard the experts jumping to conclusions and issuing warnings.

However nothing really happened so probably nothing will happen this time also. We all need to apply the common sense principles when we are warned about potential epidemics from the so-called experts.

The infection rate is virtually infinitesimal, since a huge portion of the world's population lives in Asian countries.

Therefore the “bird flu is hardly at pandemic levels. It does not warrant even a second of what the world news media has been spending time with over the past few weeks.

Immunisations as we all know are an excellent way for drug companies to increase their profits.
However there is currently no 'bird flu' vaccine available.

For there to be a vaccine specific to H5N1, development must first start with the human form of the virus-which does not yet exist, except perhaps in a pharmaceutical laboratory.

According to reliable sources a human version of H5N1 must be cultured for lengthy periods of time in human cell cultures, prior to being injected into monkey and ultimately humans to see if these experimental subjects get the same feared flu."

Only then can a vaccine be prepared, if one can be created at all.
A vaccine must require specificity to be effective. Unless it's already surreptitiously being developed, moving at the speed of light is the only way such a vaccine will be available to help against this particular kind of flu and all the mutated forms it may take before spreading to the general populace and becoming an "epidemic."

The bottom line is that the “bird flu” and all the attendant press are just hype. It is minimally infectious and has low mortality, and really poses no risk to anyone in New Zealand. Unless of course, it is brought in on purpose. Even then, it is possible to avoid it.

Don't allow yourself or your family to fall into the trap promulgated by the pharmaceutical industries.

There are those among us of course who know how politicians, corporations and the media use science and statistics to manipulate the public

Advising people to get a flu shot is exceptionally risky and should be avoided at all cost There is definitely no necessity for a "flu shot" whatsoever.

Patrick F Fahy 2005

Finland prepares to vaccinate everyone in the Country!

In response to a recommendation by the World Health Organisation, Finland is preparing to vaccinate its entire population against the disease.
In the second supplementary budget for 2005, released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, it was proposed that a total of EUR 20.8 million be allocated to finance the acquisition of 5.2 million bird flu vaccine doses.
Source from Helsinki

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Martin shot to infamy, as far as the pharmaceutical industry is concerned when he wrote Dirty Medicine in 1993. DM was a massive exposé of how the drug giant Wellcome had virtual control over the medical system in the UK and how AZT, the AIDS wonder drug, was a fraud, as well as detailing the concerted efforts to destroy the natural health movement.

His latest book is being released as a free pdf download, but donations would be welcomed, from www.zero-risk.org

This is another highly explosive book that is not going to be appreciated by the establishment, both government and medical. It would be wise to download and read it sooner rather than later. It will also help shed some interesting light on the current fiasco which is promised for us all in the UK.

The government committed itself yesterday to buying 120 million doses of a vaccine that will be put into “immediate production” as soon as the “virus has mutated” to a form that will affect humans.

The thing that concerns me more than anything is that this is going to go straight from the lab to production to us. No testing. No time for trials. No finding out how many people the vaccine will kill first. Straight into the arm and then..........?
Those of us who know better than to rely on drugs will already be doing the most effective thing possible, supporting our immune systems.

The vaccine only alerts the immune system to the existence of something that it might have to deal with. This is quite possibly helpful when an immune system is compromised and the T1 and T2 cells are not so easy to wake up, but a fully charged system will pretty much take on all-comers. This is the only reason why the bubonic plague, Spanish flu and numerous other pandemics did not kill everyone. It is not luck that separates the living from the dead.

If the vaccine is going to be given to everyone, whether at risk or not, an element of risk, possibly great, possibly small, is going to be given to every single person in the country. Except me and hopefully you as well.

It really makes little or no sense in a rational world, unless something else is afoot.
We will see in good time. In the meantime we will all have to work harder to pay more taxes to pay for the £230 million that the government has already spent on Tamiflu and then even harder to pay for the billion or three that the vaccine is going to cost.

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Each ‘Affiliate Secretary receives in APRIL of each year an “Affiliate Details and Charters Members list” and should be returned with Yes/No completed by end of MAY with who is a financial member of their organisation. Any charter member on this list that has ‘NO” next to their name which means that they are not currently financial with their affiliate, means that the we hold their Practicing Certificate at the charter office until such a time as the Affiliate Secretary notifies the charter that any non financial members on the list have renewed their fees.

It has come to our attention that the Affiliates do send this list back but should keep a copy for their records (which is stated on this form). We are finding that the office is not getting the feed back from some Affiliates of any members who have “NO” next to their names on the list, as to when these members did become current with their Affiliate, therefore the Charter can still be holding their practicing certificates at the office and this means that the member is not covered for Insurance as we assume that these members are not current with their Affiliate!

The charter office does send out from time to time by email during the year to the Affiliate secretary, reminders of who is not a current Charter member of their Affiliate (as per the list the Affiliate returned to us) and that we are holding these members practicing certificates at the office. We appreciate that some members are ‘slow’ payers but unless the charter office is notified when a member has paid immediately, who originally had NO next to their names on the list, then we will not send out their practicing certificate.

Please ensure that :
a) Members,- remember to pay your fees to your Affiliate on time to ensure you receive your “charter practicing certificate and Insurance Policy” for the current year.

b) Affiliate Secretary’s to keep a copy and check the “Affiliates Details and Charters Members list” as soon as a late “charter member fee” is paid, and notify the charter office by email if you had NO next to their names at the time you originally sent the form back to the charter office.

This will save everyone a lot of time and lack of communication between our office Affiliates and members and ensures we get the Members Practicing Certificate and Insurance Policy out to them immediately we have been notified.

Remember the above information is relative to any members who are listed on the “Affiliates Details and Charter Members list”, all these members on the list are entitled to the NZ Charter Insurance cover.

	The NZ Charter offices have “Training Room/Seminar” facilities, which are available throughout the year the large training room can be cordoned off into 3 separate rooms or one big room for large groups.
We are located in Albany, contact Marissa at the charter office for prices and availability.

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New Zealanders have been told for decades that although it is just too bad our government cannot provide operations in a timely manner for everyone within our health system, however for those who can afford the luxury of health insurance, the immediate health care they need and can get is the best in the world. We are also told by over paid bureaucrats that although New Zealanders pay substantially through their astronomical taxes that we still have the best healthcare resources in line with other first world countries.

Well successive governments have progressively dismantled and destroyed the best healthcare system in the world.

Would you be surprised to know that studies have shown that we don't even obtain health outcomes as those other countries that do a better job of covering their citizens while spending half the amount of money per capita?

It is outrageous that we spend far more per capita than other developed countries on healthcare (over 10 Billion dollars annually) on a system that is failing to deliver what we need.

It is clearly obvious that spending twice as much on health care as many other countries do doesn't necessarily result in better outcomes.

So why should we pay so much for so little?

This is of course a political question, and politicians of all parties are in dereliction of their duty when they fail to respond with the correct answers to the voters. In fact individuals who fail to obtain timely healthcare should file for compensation against the state – isn’t this why we pay our taxes? Or should the state and its servants be immune - so long as there is a public health system with a waiting list process for all to sit and hope and possibly die while waiting for an operation - every thing will be just fine.

This goes to the heart of the individual's relationship with the state - the social contract between our citizens. The government is clearly accused of arrogance and medical negligence when a person dies as a result of failing to obtain surgery in a timely fashion.

It’s about time the overstaffed Ministry of health bureaucracy responded to public "accountability" and senior officials heads rolled. Maybe it is about time that corporate manslaughter legislation was introduced with prosecutions of government officials with risk of imprisonment.

The real question for those to whom this negligence affects, is whether the government should be exempt. The social contract between patient and state is quite different from a private contract. After all, the welfare state should provide whatever lifelong care a patient requires, regardless of the type of healthcare needed.

Corporate Greed of the Pharmaceutical Companies

In the United States of America companies with over two hundred employees are required to provide full health protection insurance coverage to their employees.

Since 1999, when the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed Pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to the American consumer, the cost of the average prescription medical drug has increased 500% - with no reason other than greed for profit.

These same prescription drugs cost up to twenty five times as much in the United States as other countries. Because of this, the average cost of health insurance for a family of four, including the amount a company pays, and what the employee pays, is now $14,700 per year.

It is virtually impossible for any company in the United States to afford the massive increases in health care costs - so to survive, at all, much less compete in a word-wide market, these companies are sending their labour requirements overseas - and shutting down U.S. production facilities, laying off their workers, supervisors, managers, vice presidents, etc.

It's time that the world woke up and saw just what these pharmaceutical companies are really up to. It’s not about health it is about control. There’s no money or profit to be made with people being well.

Pharmaceutical Companies supported by governments’ worldwide are without doubt, public enemy No1 - the enemy of the health and wellbeing of mankind.

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The "Codex Alimentarius" Commission in Rome, July 4th, 2005, passed restriction of supplement guidelines that would, in effect, destroy the supplement industry in it's entirety - except for those products manufactured by Pharmaceutical Companies.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has adopted in final form, the Codex Guidelines for Vitamins, Minerals, herbals and Food Supplements.

This process is at Step 8, the final stage of adoption for the international Codex guidelines.

The Codex Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements guidelines are now official and no longer in draft form.

The Commission, attended by over 85 of the 171 Codex countries, adopted the guidelines by the consensus method. The consensus method used by Codex is for the Chairman to sum up the overall consensus and enter his opinion in the minutes, only in very rare instances is an actual vote taken.

There was brief discussion before adoption taking in comments from a small number of countries and two NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations). The Non-Governmental Organisations that are allowed to attend Codex meetings and serve on Codex committees consist primarily of pharmaceutical representatives.

America has consistently repulsed Codex domination, but that situation could change!

The "CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement)" legislation currently being rushed through the United States Congress contains, within its language, the mechanism to force "harmonisation" of United States laws to meet "Codex" requirements destroying the protection afforded under the1994 DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act) law.

What this means, for the United States, is that as soon as CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) passes the House of Representatives (it has already passed the Senate), the US government will be forced, by the terms of that CAFTA agreement, to restrict vitamin and mineral supplement sales in accordance with the German Model of health care.

If and when this happens, the hard won 1994 DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act) will be nullified, and the dismantling of the North American health supplement industry will begin.

However, the show isn’t over, until the fat lady sings, it is not inevitable - the use of "supplements" and other "alternatives" to conventional medicine regimens represents over fifty percent (50%) of the total United States health dollar spent annually.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of United States adults use an "alternative," and believe in them.

Opposition is already gearing up for the big battle – stay tuned.

The Pharmaceutical victory in Rome, Italy, will see the removal of vitamins and minerals, for from over-the-counter sale and access to these essential substances to maintain health will be phased out, almost completely, in every country around the world. The "German Model" of healthcare will ultimately become the law of the land - in every land.

Therefore we would have to say that it is without doubt that the worldwide control of all forms of healthcare by the Pharmaceutical Companies is behind this move - they have that much power control and money.

It has been stated and research clearly indicates, that all signs point directly toward the pharmaceutical industry as being directly descended from Nazi Germany's I.G. Farben, a company that was forcibly split up into four parts during the Nurenberg trials at the end of World War Two. These four companies today control a major part in the world's pharmaceutical drug trade.

There are those, in the world, like world-renowned medical doctor and health advocate Dr Matthias Rath MD, that suggest that the German Healthcare Model facilitated by the Pharmaceutical Companies are, in fact, a continuation of the Nazi Third World Reich.
Dr, Rath presents a strong case supporting this view and has before the World Court accused pharmaceutical companies of practicing genocide.

What No Deaths here from Vioxx?

What! No deaths recorded in New Zealand

It appears that our Ministry of Health embraces a policy of zero reporting of deaths from medical treatments.

The giant pharmaceutical company Merck was recently under U.S. FDA investigation, to answer claims that their Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAID) Vioxx an arthritis medication had killed over 55,000 people with this drug alone.

One would have ask themselves how is it that there are no reported deaths in New Zealand from people taking Vioxx medication.

Thousands of New Zealanders had been taking this medication and its sister product Celebrex at the time the scandal broke.

Merck stated publicly that there were over 80 million people taking this medication worldwide. Therefore the fact that only 55,000 people in America had died from heart failure while taking this medication the percentages were good. The legalised, killing of 55,000 people with the deadly drug Vioxx shows total disregard for human life."

55,000 people died, and we have not heard a word from our Minister of Health Annette King or factual statements in our government controlled media about these deaths or reports of raids on Merck's offices in the United States, pending arrests, property seizures, warrants, injunctions, seizures of products, bans on products sold in the U.S.A, etc.

Who is accountable?

This is criminal, a scandal, " we must hold those who are responsible for their actions as personally responsible - and that includes our own health officials who permit these products to be marketed here in New Zealand and Pharmac who determines which state subsidised pharmaceutical drugs are available in New Zealand.

There has never been it appears an investigation into pharmaceutical induced drug deaths in New Zealand. Four years ago Ministry of Health statistics were exposed, that indicated 84,000 hospital deaths from pharmaceutical drugs and to date it appears that there has never been an official investigation into these unnecessary deaths. Every member of the last Parliament was informed of these deaths, but not one of them has stepped forward and asked the question as to why this situation is allowed to continue or even what action our Ministry of Health is taking to correct this situation.

This lack of action on the part of our elected representatives and our un-elected administrator’s raises the question are they controlled by the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical industry? Or are they in a do not rock the boat mode and maybe the problem will just go away?

The fact that these Hospital drug induced deaths were not included in the publicly available Mortality Statistics and were filed away separately to the official Mortality Statistics leads to the question – Why Not?

However the last Minister of Health (Hon. Annette King) did take action in regards to the Pan Pharmaceutical fiasco regarding a Class-1 alert covering a travel sickness pharmaceutical over –the-counter medicine that apparently caused a type of hallucination but never actually killed anyone. This approach lead to the eventual recall of all of Pan’s products. Why?

Could it be because Pan was Australia’s largest manufacturer of Dietary Supplements? Interesting is it not that no adverse reactions to Pan’s supplements were ever officially reported!

Why hasn’t our Minister of Health ordered an immediate seizure of every Merck document ever initiated, Immediately ban every Merck product sold in New Zealand, pending investigation, and alert the medical profession.

Why hasn’t our Health Minister ordered an immediate seizure of every Merck product on sale here in New Zealand.

According to sources it would appear that Merck knows "the worst" is coming. One of our sources has informed us that recently Merck, awarded its top 250 executives "golden parachute" retirement packages that would supersede the financial collapse of the company.

And, it was those executives who were ultimately directly responsible for all those deaths.

A Revolution Worldwide in HealthCare is just the beginning

Conventional medical healthcare (pharmaceutical Medicine) is in for a hard road -

There's no question that the American health care system is broken. The hospital-based system, used under full control, is the Number One killer of Americans, and Heart disease is number two, and Cancer is number three. Everybody, with a brain, knows that the combination of Big Pharmaceutical Companies, Big Hospitals, and Big Health Insurance is holding back real healthcare in favour of a status quo system that simply is too expensive and doesn't work. Americans are suffering and dying from it - and the American sleeping giant is awakening.

It is well recognised that there are cures for heart disease, cancer, and almost every human ailment. These cures are not readily available to the general public, simply because "the medical/pharmaceutical system" suppresses them. Most thinking individuals recognise that it is better to be "healthy" than "medicated to death"

"Underground" health care permeates the North American system. Over 50% of the total United States health care dollar is now spent on alternatives to conventional offerings. The only thing propping up the conventional system (paying for it) is insurance and Medicare. The American public won't pay an out-of-pocket nickel for insurance 88% of U.S. adults’ use, and believe in, some health alternative - because it has been found by real world experience to be effective.

Last year wasn’t a good year for conventional medical thinking in health care, anywhere. California is a world leader in new thinking, for Election 2004, California overwhelmingly smashed conventional medicine in four separate ballot initiatives, clearly indicating a message - It's over for conventional thinking in health care. What happened in California will happen throughout North America, and then throughout the world. California is the fifth largest stand-alone economy in the world.

Proposition 72 was a ballot initiative which would force employers of 20 or more employees to provide health insurance to those employees. It would also force employers with 200 or more employees to not only provide health insurance to those employees, but for their families as well.

What was of interest is that the proponents of the argument proclaimed "the rising costs of health care" as reason to vote for the initiative. They were claiming that health care costs were rising because "some people were uninsured."

The health insurance companies shovelled a pile of money into this campaign, and enlisted the Unions to help. The Unions focused on the fact that Wal-Mart didn't provide insurance to their employees - and this fact was somehow costing the taxpayers of California 32 million dollars a year.

The measure failed Californians aren't that stupid. Why would they want to force a costly failing system on small companies, when it isn't working for big companies? California voters said "NO."

Five Minute Medicine?...

The term "Five Minute Medicine," has come to represent North America's frustration with the reality of conventional health care. The term is used to describe two common situations in "medicine:"

(1) Where a patient waits two months for an appointment to see a doctor, waits an hour in a waiting room, then twenty minutes in an examining room. to "consult" with a doctor who spends five minutes listening to their problems and one minute writing out three new "prescriptions" for drugs, whose "co-pay," at the pharmacy, is equivalent to the price of groceries for two senior citizens for a whole week.

(2) The term also refers to the amount of time a patient can expect to actually interact with a licensed health professional during a week's stay in any North American hospital - five minutes.

There are thousands of medical doctors and people around the world, who have abandoned "Five Minute Medicine," in favour of actually looking for, and finding, what's really wrong with patients? What are the causative factors? - and rectifying those problems and setting the patients onto the pathway to sustainable healthcare.

"Five Minute Medicine” except for Emergency Services, is all that the conventional "medical medicine system”, totally reliant on "drug therapy," offers.

If New Zealand is locked into the Australian Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty we can expect a continuation of Five-Minute Medicine and a continuing decline in the health of the nation and future generations.

There are many natural health and medical practitioners worldwide, who represent a significant threat to the medical medicine system. New Zealand has previously pioneered the way in innovative healthcare.

The Big If

If New Zealand Consumers and Practitioners allow the Government to implement the Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty we can expect a continuation of “The Five Minute Medical Medicine System” and a continuing decline in health. This system has resulted in New Zealand being rated at forty-first (41st) in world health care. Fifty-five years ago we were recognised as a world leader in health care.

New Zealand can with the right corrective approach regain its place as a world leader in health care, but only if Consumers and Practitioners become pro-active in ensuring that our Government is not dictated to by medical/pharmaceutical interests whose main concern is a profit dominated bottom line.

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The Charter procured an exhibition stand at the 2nd Visionary Living Show held recently at the Auckland Expo Centre Greenlane Auckland.

Charter representatives received considerable interest from the public, most of who were aware of the Charter. There was considerable interest shown by people visiting the Exhibition Centre, in the Charter Practitioners Annual Directory, and the fact that the directory provides a comprehensive list of Chartered Practitioners throughout the Country, and that we are providing an informative service for the consumer.

Several inquiries were received from exhibitors also practitioners and students keen to become members.

There was also considerable interest shown in the NZ Charter Journal.

We wish to thank our Affiliate Signatory organisations who “supported” the Charter at this exhibition and all volunteers who helped share the stand.

• Thai Yoga Massage Assn of NZ Inc
• National Federation of Spiritual Healers Inc
• Shiatsu Practitioners Assn of Aoteroa NZ Inc

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Re: Trans Tasman Harmonisation action news. Important new developments to bring about the changes we all desire.

Traditionally New Zealanders have had access to their choice of a very broad range of medicines, including vitamin and mineral supplements, herbals, homeopathy, rongoa (traditional Maori medicine) and those prescribed by their own Doctor.

We are all about to be deprived of this freedom through the Trans Tasman Harmonisation Treaty. This is currently in the first stage of settlement by our Government. The outcome of this Treaty if ratified will be that our right to choose the medicines we prefer for ourselves and our families/whanau will be controlled through regulation by Australia. This Treaty is a threat to the healing traditions of all ethnic groups within our country.

After years of meetings, many in our field have felt betrayed when the Minister of Health, Annette King signed the Trans Tasman treaty with Australia over Medicines. Many thought that it is all over, that Australian TGA ruled our health choices. In actual fact, it is not over until MP's vote the proposal through Parliament. This of course has not occurred as the Labour party do not have the votes to pass the proposal through Parliament.
This left Annette King, now ex-Minister of Health, in a position of international embarrassment. One does not sign a mutual agreement to agree before Parliament members approve.

Since the day Annette King made her announcement many of us have been actively including Maori over the issue, seen they were not included in the initial public consultation.

Then on Sat., August Sept 24th, a monumental event took place- a Hui. The Hui, held at Kaiwaka, placed the Trans Tasman (TGA) proposal as an official event for discussion for the Ngatai whatu people. Maori healers and elders were called from around the country to the Hui -all to hear about the future of Rongoa.

The organisers called Val Wright, Paddy Fahy and myself, Janice Ann Priest, to speak at the Hui on the impact of this Trans Tasman Harmonisation proposal if transferred to the Australian TGA control. The outcome of that day has been very successful. The Kaumata's (elders) gave full support to our voiced concerns, along with permission for action within Maoridom.
Over the past week other Marae and iwi have been notified and meetings have been held. Literally the kumara vine is alive and well in this country.

A National committee was formed, to inform other Hapu, consisting of four Rongoa healers, (respected Maori women in the country), Val Wright, Paddy Fahy and myself.

To further this campaign Healthy Options Ltd sponsored a stand at the Visionary Living
Show to present the NZ Health trust forms, and introduce the group called MARA, (Natural) Medicines and Rongoa of Aotearoa, which has emerged from the Hui,Mara in Maori means to cultivate.

Our vision is to cultivate equal relationships with Maori and Pakeha and all ethnic groups of healers, medical and natural health providers, to stand as one people for our rights and the freedom of choice for our health care systems for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren.

Taherama Hollis is the chosen Maori spokesperson is directing the message through the country with her elders support and approval to educate Maori at grass roots.

For those of you who feel strongly about this issue, here is the chance to have the TGA thrown out or the proposal rewritten to a broader inclusion of natural traditional medicines.

With Maori partnership a better environment in which healers can operate will emerge.
Funds are needed for these functions:-
* National meetings/hui etc
* Travel expenses to take our committee members to marae throughout our country.
* Stationery, Pamphlets, postage and Website etc

We are asking for your help. Are you able to make a financial or other contribution to support this work for the benefit of all New Zealanders’?

Let us stand together and speak as one voice.
We are the ancestors of the next generations.

For further information please contact Taherama Hollis (09) 431 5997.
Would you like your name on the sponsor list on the website?
Please make cheque payable to M.A.R.A.
Bank Account details ASB Wellsford 12 3094 0182338 00

Our grateful thanks to you for your support.

Dr Janice-Ann Priest
Healthy Options and Rainbow News Magazines
Ph: 07 - 5700 560 Fax: 07 - 5700 360 www.healthyoptions.co.nz, www.rainbownews.co.nz

EFFECTIVE ACTION:
The most effective action as an individual we can take is to write directly to our Members of Parliament. Remember it costs nothing to post a letter to Parliament Buildings Wellington, ATTENTION it to the MP that you wish. You can send a letter to each MP as this will create an impact. Members of Parliament are required to respond to every hand written letter received by them.

VISIT MPs:
Personally visit your local MP. This is a powerful way to get your message across. Many MPs hold clinics at the local electorate office. Clinics are days set aside so that MPs can meet and hear concerns of people within their electorate.

Some Tips – Call and make an appointment, be clear about what you would like to say – define the problem. Offer solutions and a call for action.

COMMUNICATE THE ISSUE:
Contact your local community. Talk about the need for New Zealand to have their own governing body over our Natural Medicines and Rongoa.

Discuss this at community centres and sports clubs etc. This will help raise awareness for the issue and what is at stake.

SUPPORT COMMUNITY EVENTS:
Support community events with stalls and rallies to help convey the public feeling to the government. Suggest action at local events.

THE INTERNET:
Sample letters for contacting your M.P.s; an up to date list of all the M.P.s; and information will be available from the M.A.R.A. website: www.mara.co.nz which will be on line soon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Download information from:
The NZ Health Trust: www.nzht.co.nz
The New Zealand Charter of Health Practitioners Inc www.healthcharter.org.nz
Citizens For Health Choices: www.choices.org.nz

SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS CARDS:
Please fill out one of cards in the store which are available at most Health Food Shops.
Or Contact info@nzht.co.nz Health Trust New Zealand for a batch of cards for you to get others to sign. You can then send them in bulk to Health Trust New Zealand. Their address is on the card.

The Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency with Australia

• A seven-thousand-five-hundred-dollar hand-tailored business suit.
• A fifteen-hundred-dollar designer tie.
• A four-hundred-fifty-dollar belt.
• Twenty-five-hundred dollar hand-made shoes.
• Three-hundred-fifty-dollar hand-made silk underwear.
• And, a twenty-five-thousand dollar hand-made watch.

Who's wearing these?
Every one of the seven thousand lobbyists working for the Pharmaceutical Companies trying to initiate laws, and treaties, favourable to their aims, through the United States Congress, and closer to home the Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty between Australia and New Zealand.

They dress like this for two reasons
(1) with the amount of money the Pharmaceutical Companies are paying them they can
afford to.
(2) they want to make "the right impression."

Their major project at present is to infiltrate and control and to have the CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) passed. It's vitally important to pharmaceutical manufacturers - and they have pulled out all stops to achieve this result.
Despite all their efforts, the power and corruption and not to mention money, they will not win the battle.

The Campaign to stop the Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty between Australia and New Zealand has begun.

The intention for and the mechanism to achieve the dreaded "harmonisation" legislation, to make our medical dominated healthcare system just like Germany's, is primed, funded, and ready to go - and just waiting. The Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty with Australia is “Codex in disguise” and it is just the beginning.

We have had a temporary setback with the loss of the "Codex" battle in Rome, 2005, however we will win the battle and defeat the Trans Tasman-Therapeutic Goods Agency Treaty with Australia. This is a battle we can win with your support in fighting the world's number one terrorists – "The Pharmaceutical Companies".

Stay tuned... To maintain the Freedom of Choice in HealthCare and the basic human right to be in control of your own healthcare will require proactive action by all consumers and practitioners.

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Natural Health and Mystic Fairs

	There are a number of Natural Health Fairs coming up in 2005/2006 in most areas: These Fairs are organised by “Festival Co-ordinators: Peace Summer Life.
For information on stands or locations of the Fairs ph: 09 361 3777 Fax: 09 361 3778 or email peace@angels.co.nz

Also coming up:

NEW SPIRIT FESTIVALS 2006
www.thebigevent.co.nz

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