Labour promised yesterday to establish a national organ donor register next year.

Health Minister Annette King said details would be worked out with district health boards and Land Transport New Zealand.

There would be an informed consent process "so that people who have indicated they want to be organ donors have their wishes respected".

Ms King said Labour was responding to the public's belief that New Zealand needed to improve its rate of organ donations.

"High-profile cases like Jonah Lomu's show the value of donated organs and have helped to shape public opinion."

In January, Auckland City Hospital transplant surgeon Professor Stephen Munn told the Herald that medical staff were unlikely to support a register. He said they seldom used driver's licences and would continue to ask families about their loved ones' wishes.

At the time, Ms King said she had an "open mind" about a register but overseas registers raised ethical problems and there was little evidence that they increased donor numbers.

Ms King said a national office called Organ Donation New Zealand had already been established to publicise the process.

The Government said this year that it would pay compensation to organ donors for lost income and childcare costs.

- NZPA