PHILLIDA BUNKLE (The Alliance): I will turn my attention to something less controversial, and something that is perhaps closer to the welfare of a very vulnerable group of people. Today in Parliament a group of around 22 MPs put their names forward to become a support group of MPs for people suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis. Mr Speaker, you were the twenty-second person to lend your name to that group, and I am very grateful for that.

I believe that group of very sick people will be grateful for having a voice in this House. This afternoon those members of the Wellington ME support group who were well enough gathered in Parliament and met a group of MPs, including Ruth Dyson, the Minister for Disability Issues, and Jim Anderton, the Deputy Prime Minister. They presented MPs with the Chief Medical Officer's Working Group Report on myalgic encephalomyelitis.

That report is a milestone of hope for people suffering from this dreadful illness. It is an authoritative report, and it establishes finally that myalgic encephalomyelitis is a legitimate physical illness. That is enormously important, because, until now, not only have those people been suffering dreadfully, but there has been a very unpleasant suspicion that maybe the illness was somehow not real. It has been a stigmatised and invisible disease, and the needs of those suffering from it have gone unmet.

The British report states that the most severely disabled are those who are least able to access services. The reason for that is that myalgic encephalomyelitis affects all the physical systems of the body. Some people therefore experience symptoms such as sleep deprivation, and others experience severe pain. Some have major problems with circulation, and others find that the primary symptoms are concerned with their pituitary gland. So the whole system is down and the symptoms can vary. That does not fit our conception of a truly physical illness, which is why it has been so difficult to recognise and develop policy.

With the report of the British chief medical officer, we have a very clear statement that this illness is physical and serious, and that it affects very large numbers of people. In Britain the recommendation is that health providers make provision for nearly a half of a percent of the whole population suffering at any one time. That is a very large number of people. It would be at least 16,000 in this country, yet here we find that people suffering from it have met with scepticism and disbelief. The report states that that disbelief is actually damaging, because it does have an effect on outcome if people are recognised early and receive good management.

My friend Mr Gillon, who has represented many of the firemen injured in the ICI fire, has quite clear experience of where chemical exposure has caused myalgic encephalomyelitis. We find that we need good guidelines for the recognition and management of this illness, because it has been treated extremely inconsistently. The member for Wanganui, Jill Pettis, has also joined our group. The support person in Wanganui writes: ``We have all been inundated with calls with terrible stories of ignorance on the part of our doctors, friends, and family.'' She goes on to say: ``I'm on the invalid's benefit, but heaps of people are not because they cannot get on it. Social Welfare is hopelessly inconsistent. I can get vitamin and health supplement costs, but other people cannot. We desperately need coordinated treatment and respect across the board from health and social service providers.''

I am glad to say that Ruth Dyson, Minister for Disability Issues, has committed this Government to developing those consistent guidelines for social services, so that people will be able to access a Work and Income New Zealand office, where they will find people informed about the illness.

PHILLIDA BUNKLE (The Alliance): I seek leave to table the Hansard record of Mr Prebble denying me leave to make a personal statement concerning, not least, the care of my daughter, who has myalgic encephalomyelitis, and the consequences for our family.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.