Page 4788 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 November 2017
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The response also noted that euthanasia is unlawful in Australia in all states and territories and that, while state parliaments have been presented with proposals to legislate voluntary euthanasia, none has as yet succeeded.
I am very hopeful—maybe more I am wondering; I would very much like to believe—that the federal government will consider changing its position if either proposal currently before the Victorian and New South Wales parliaments was to pass into law. I note that there is an excellent chance that this will happen in New South Wales in the very near future.
Ultimately though of course this is an issue about the democratic rights of the people of the ACT. Currently we are treated as second-class citizens. I would hope that regardless of members’ individual views on voluntary assisted dying there is broad agreement across the chamber that it is time for the ACT to be able to decide this issue for itself without federal intervention or restriction.
Of course the Greens appreciate that issues of life and death are deeply personal, meaningful and inevitably touch us all. I recognise there are moral and practical issues to work through. The issues of balance—the balance between people’s dignity and the sanctity of human life—and the extent and safeguards for vulnerable people are important considerations in this debate. But it is worth noting that several countries have developed schemes for voluntary euthanasia that are working effectively as well.
I also note Ms Cheyne’s comments that support for voluntary euthanasia is in no way saying that palliative care is not a good thing. It is something that we should all be striving for, better palliative care. One of the reasons that I am a supporter of this is that my mother had the misfortune to spend 11 years in a nursing home and you would not wish that existence on anybody.
It seems that the process undertaken by the Victorian government to develop their legislation provides a model of how this issue can be considered in a serious and mature way. The Victorian government established an advocacy panel chaired by the former head of the AMA, Dr Brian Owler, and included experts with backgrounds in nursing, health administration, law, palliative care and disability services.
The panel undertook extensive consultation and encouraged constructive and informative community conversations based on the principles that every human life has equal value and that a person’s autonomy should be respected. Ultimately the panel presented an extensive report which outlined proposed eligibility criteria, the process for accessing voluntary assisted dying and details of 68 oversight measures to ensure that respect for autonomy is balanced with safeguarding individuals and vulnerable communities.
Under the Victorian legislation a person must be 18 years of age or older, be ordinarily resident in Victoria, have decision-making capacity, be diagnosed with a terminal illness and be in the last weeks or months of life, with a prognosis of no longer than 12 months. Their illness must also be causing suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person deems tolerable. I understand the expectation is
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