But independent MP Elizabeth Kerekere told The Spinoff she remained unconvinced and couldn’t support the bill till rongoā was explicitly excluded.
“Since the exemptions are not stipulated in the bill, we must rely on secondary regulation which has not yet been written,” Kerekere said via email. “We are forced to trust government officials and the regulator to get it right for the natural health sector, for tangata whenua, and for people who rely on imported medicine not funded by Pharmac. This has not always gone well for us.”