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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-28 Daily Xml
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STATUTES AMENDMENT (PROHIBITION OF HUMAN CLONING FOR REPRODUCTION AND REGULATION OF RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN EMBRYOS) BILL

Second Reading

Second reading debate resumed.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:26): I find myself in something of a quandary over this entire debate and bill before the house. Whilst I can understand the need in some way to support it, I find myself with some ethical reasons for not supporting it, quite frankly. My view is that the bill is outdated and has been superseded, particularly now that we have induced pluripotent stem cells being made more efficiently and without ethical difficulties. I find that negates the necessity for this bill.

However, in saying that, I suppose that I (and I am sure many of my colleagues in this place) would like to be able to deal with many of the illnesses and afflictions that affect mankind. Such things as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, stroke, burns, heart disease and many more may well be accommodated with an increase in activity and research. My good friend Peter Ellson, who lives in my electorate on Kangaroo Island and who went blind as a result of retinal disease, would desperately like to see some form of legislation go through to give him some chance of getting his sight back, and nothing would please me more than if that was able to take place.

However, I suspect that with this new technology (the iPS cells), the need for human cloning of embryos, etc., is negated somewhat. I have had some discussions with others in this place, and my views are framed around the question: when does life begin? My view is that life begins at conception. I am sure that some of my colleagues will add to this debate, but my problem with that is that you are creating a life to take a life, and that does not sit easily with me. However, as I said at the start of my remarks (and I will not be long), this legislation is no longer necessary. Indeed, I wonder why we are doing it. I know that it will cause problems for some in this place, and it has caused problems for many outside this place.

I have been bombarded with material (as have probably other members) both for and against this legislation. However, at the end of the day, we have to stand up here and make a decision based on what is in front of us on the day, and that is not always easy. It is no good trying to duck and weave and get around the issue. We have to deal with the bill that is before us, which I will be opposing.

As I have indicated, I strongly support the research with respect to alternative measures to come up with ways to treat these diseases from which people suffer and which create a miserable existence for them in their daily lives. The scientific research with respect to embryonic stem cells has the potential benefits to address numerous conditions and diseases, as I said earlier, and may well result in a cure for some things. However, there are two ways to take the feathers off a chook. I suggest that we need to get this right, and I am not sure that this is the right way to go.

The fast pace development of SCNT has stimulated worldwide debate. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from cloned human embryo which, in the end, destroys the embryo—a potential life—and it is this exact process which raises the concerns of myself and others about the true values of scientific research when balanced against the value of a human embryo.

In 2002-03, Australia introduced a national scheme in order to regulate biotechnological research. This initiative was introduced having regard to the commonwealth, state and territory laws and the National Health and Medical Research Council's ethical guidelines and standards, and things went from there. However, the commonwealth law was slightly altered in 2006 (and took effect in 2007) initially to allow human cloning for research purposes as well as for other previously restricted research practices. Since these alterations, South Australian laws are now inconsistent with the national regulatory scheme. The problem is that things have moved on substantially in technological and other investigative ways with respect to coming up with better ways of prolonging life and easing people's suffering.

That creates the problem that we are now talking about here. Japan, which is one of the most technically savvy nations in the world, has taken the prize in establishing another alternative with respect to reproductive cells besides destroying human embryonic stem cells. In November 2007, Japanese scientists demonstrated that pluripotent stem cells can be produced by reprogramming ordinary skin cells which, in my view, is a great leap forward and gets away from the necessity to do what we are talking about here today.

Using alternative methods of stem cell research, such as adult stem cells, it has been proven that obtaining stem cells from adult cells is far cheaper and easier than any other alternative. With the current global economic downturn, in my view, it would be a far more viable and professional tactic to invest our attention and funding into alternative methods of research.

It has been noted by Family Voice Australia that scientists who supported the cloning of human embryos are beginning to switch to alternative methods of induced pluripotent stem cells. Professor Ian Wilmut, who is based in the UK and who is a world expert on motor neurone disease, mentioned that this new discovery requires no cloning of embryos and will be the future method for stem cell research. Professor Wilmut led the team 10 years ago when they cloned Dolly. So, he has a wealth of knowledge and far more information than any of us here, I would suggest.

I indicate that I will be opposing the bill. I do not do so lightly. However, in my view, it is outdated, and I see no necessity to pass this bill through the house.

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