Kay Patterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stott Despoja, through you, Temporary Chair. I am not able to accept this amendment because I have had advice that it is not workable within the bill. The words ‘human oocyte’ are used in the definition of human embryo. Human oocyte is defined as the same as a human egg. Therefore, the new definition of ‘human egg’, which limits an egg to one donated for research only, would, I have been advised, then become part of the definition of ‘human embryo’. This would mean that something is only an embryo if it is donated to research, so it does have some problems. Also, the definition of ‘responsible person’ is related to an excess ART embryo, so it is also a problem there. So it has implications in other parts of the bill. For that reason, I am not able to support it, because it has technical problems. I am also wondering about its grammar, but that is not the point of it. For that reason, I would not be supporting the amendment.