Page 226 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014
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The subject of how to plan for end of life will never be easy. But it is important to bring about cultural change. I support the people in our community who are making these important decisions and those that are supporting us in our end-of-life planning. That is why I will be holding a forum in March to further discuss this important issue. I am pleased that the government’s action in this area is helping raise awareness of issues surrounding end-of-life decisions and that the government continues to deliver practical initiatives, as well as increasing the resources, providing a range of advance care planning opportunities and improving palliative care planning and delivery in the ACT.
Together with healthcare professionals and members of the community, we are moving the ACT towards being a jurisdiction which talks about the issues that surround the end of a person’s life and plans for when this time comes to pass. I continue to encourage all members of this place to be involved in the public conversation with their own families, communities and stakeholder groups.
I emphasise that end-of-life planning is not something that you should leave till you think that maybe it is going to be the end of your life because, as we sadly know, many people in our community face this issue much earlier than they perhaps would have liked. I think the time for discussion in any family with any individual is now.
I am therefore calling on the government to continue raising end-of-life and palliative care and advance care planning as an issue within the ACT community, to continue to implement recommendations from the ACT Local Hospital Network Council’s end-of-life issues and decision-making forum that was held, as I said, in May 2013, to seriously consider the report resulting from the September 2013 palliative care conference, where papers were presented by the people that I mentioned before—the researchers, the academics and the practitioners—and to consider the results of my forum that will be held in March on end-of-life issues.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.41): I am pleased to speak to this motion. I do have a little sense of deja vu. I know that we have discussed this before, and the motion that we are looking at today does look somewhat similar to previous motions that we have looked at in this place.
When I compare the motion to some of the comments that have been made by Ms Porter in the Canberra Times, and in quotes as well, it is interesting, having regard to the public commentary around these issues. I know that Ms Porter has been very careful in this place to say, “This isn’t just about euthanasia,” and so on, but when you look at the debate that is being sparked, the Canberra Times stated:
Mary Porter intends moving a motion in the ACT Assembly on “dying with dignity” and end-of-life issues, an action sure to reignite the euthanasia debate.
The article talks about the people that she has invited to her forum who have “written extensively on voluntary euthanasia”. It goes on to say:
At the forum in March, voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide will be up for discussion. “Up to this point, we have not talked about it—it’s like the elephant in the room. We go to these forums and they say we are not talking about voluntary euthanasia.”
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