Page 4781 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 November 2017
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Citizens of the ACT are rightly asking: why is the ACT not actively considering voluntary assisted dying legislation? Citizens of the ACT recognise that we are a mature jurisdiction with a mature Assembly. In this place we debate plenty of very serious legislation, including legislation regarding other human rights and choices. The fact that we cannot have a genuine debate in this Assembly about end of life choices is repugnant and reprehensible.
Canberrans should not stand for it. Canberrans must not stand for it. We, as Canberrans’ elected representatives, need to be doing everything in our power to restore our rights as a territory. Today I am calling on every single member of this chamber to raise, with their federal colleagues and counterparts at every opportunity, the need to overturn this legislation, to not let it continue any longer.
While we might not be able to have a genuine legislative debate in this chamber any time soon, given we are a mature jurisdiction, I am calling on the Assembly to consider how the ACT community can otherwise begin to have input on the possibility of a model, and then the possible model, for a voluntary assisted dying scheme in the ACT when an Australian state passes legislation establishing a scheme.
I first need to make very clear that any discussion about voluntary assisted dying is not a debate about the merits of it versus palliative care. The notion of voluntary assisted dying does not come at the cost of support or progress in the field of palliative care. The ACT government and Canberra community provide significant support to palliative care. In 2015-16 the government committed $2.4 million to palliative care for the next four years. Last year we committed to palliative care services for children and young adults.
Palliative care is an integral aspect of our health care system, and provides physical and spiritual comfort to those battling terminal illnesses. In no way is voluntary assisted dying an alternative to palliative care; they are separate elements of a comprehensive health care system.
What we know is that palliative care is appropriate and effective in managing one’s end of life for the vast majority of people. But it is widely acknowledged that in about five per cent of cases palliative care is not enough. In five per cent of cases of terminally ill people, there are people who are continuing to suffer, and they are continuing to suffer unbearably. Palliative care in these cases does not relieve the pain. Their deaths are incredibly painful and traumatic.
The suffering is not limited to the person with the terminal illness; it also reaches their loved ones who watch them and are with them. In some cases, the pain is so unbearable that these people are taking drastic action. Again there are significant ripple effects for those left behind. It is for these people that the concept of voluntary assisted dying exists, providing them with a choice to relieve themselves of their suffering.
While there is significant support nationally for voluntary assisted dying—while there is essentially a national conversation occurring; while parliaments are debating
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