A FORMER Newport man is delighted at yet another boost for his campaign to improve the organ transplant system in his adopted country.

For the second time within a year the parliamentary health select committee in New Zealand has recommended the introduction of an organ donor register.

Andy Tookey, who emigrated to NZ with his family, said this time it had gone even further by stating it wanted the issue resolved "expeditiously".

The committee also expressed concerns over the legality of the donors' wishes being overturned "as medical specialists inevitably adhere to the family's instructions, regardless of a person's indication on a driver's licence".

Mr Tookey, whose petition to parliament prompted the select committee inquiry, was over the moon at the news of the support from the MPs.

"I have worked hard over the past three years for changes to the organ donor system and this is a further boost to the other initiatives that have recently been announced. Progress is being made. I just hope that further red tape does not delay the implementation of these recommendations."

Mr Tookey set up the lobby group GiveLife NZ three years ago after being told his baby daughter Katie had a rare liver disease and would need a transplant.

He discovered that New Zealand has one of the lowest organ donor rates in the Western world, at around 37 donors per year.

Despite the select committee announcement, Mr Tookey said there was much more to be done and he was currently lobbying for a law change that will prevent families overturning the wishes of a donor.