The Health Committee has received just under 15,000 written submissions on the Gene Technology Bill. The final number of submissions will be published once they have been checked for duplication and against criteria for acceptance.

Submissions will be published periodically on the Parliament website after they have been reviewed by the committee. The committee intends to publish all submissions by the end of March.

Selection of submitters for hearings

Around 900 submitters have requested to speak to the committee about their submission. The committee will not be able to hear from everyone who has requested a hearing. The committee has agreed to hear from submitters who have made a substantive submission. This includes written submissions that:

• make recommendations to improve the bill
• are unique and do not constitute part of a form submission
• consist of more than a few sentences or a short paragraph.

The committee plans to hear from over 400 submitters for a total of 45 hours.

The committee would like to thank all submitters for their contribution.

Schedule of hearings

The committee will hold hearings on:

• Wednesday 5 March
• Wednesday 12 March

Additionally, the committee has agreed to split into two subcommittees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available.

Subcommittees A and B will hold hearings on:

• Monday 10 March
• Friday 14 March
• Monday 17 March

Subcommittee membership

The subcommittees are made up of the following members.

• Subcommittee A: Sam Uffindell (Chair), Dr Carlos Cheung, Ingrid Leary, Hūhana Lyndon
• Subcommittee B: Dr Hamish Campbell (Chair), Cameron Luxton, Jenny Marcroft, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall

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