Page 2883 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 September 1994
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Mr Kaine: Stop attacking me because I have a different view.
MR LAMONT: That is not what you have said. What you have done in your address to the Assembly this morning is basically castigate the process that has been adopted to bring the legislation forward.
Mr Kaine: I did not castigate anything.
MR LAMONT: Yes, you did. You quite clearly did.
Mr Kaine: I outlined the process, and I said that you came to the wrong conclusion.
MR LAMONT: I can understand that you have a different view in relation to how far the legislation should go or whether or not there should be any legislation at all. That was quite clearly outlined. But it is clear that the Assembly has accepted the basis of the report.
Mr Kaine: You do not know yet. The legislation has not been voted on.
MR LAMONT: But the legislation comes out of the report, and the report has been responded to and noted by this Assembly. I think that it is a quite proper process and a quite proper principle which is outlined in this legislative package before us. I believe that, as the Government has said, what we should do is allow for further debate in relation to the concept of active euthanasia. My personal view - I said it at the time - is that there was not wide community support for that concept, or there was a clear difference between people in their understanding of what that concept meant. It is simply not good enough to do a Dennis poll and say, "If you are in a stage of terminal illness, do you think somebody should prick you with a needle or give you a bottle of pills?" or whatever else. That is just too simplistic to allow for this very - - -
Mr Stevenson: On a point of order, Madam Speaker: Perhaps Mr Lamont would not use biased questions when he talks about the polls we do.
MADAM SPEAKER: That is not a point of order, Mr Stevenson.
MR LAMONT: Do you mean that you conduct that sort of poll? I just called them "Dennis polls". Madam Speaker, I am confident that everybody in this Assembly understands what sorts of polls Mr Stevenson conducts.
It has been acknowledged by our committee and in the Government's response and in comments that I have made before in this chamber that it was simply not appropriate to go to a simple survey with a simple question and then say that the answer is simple in relation to active euthanasia. So, Mr Kaine, I believe that the committee took on board and the Government in its response has taken on board your concern that you cannot have a simple answer to an extremely complex question such as this. We have acknowledged, identified and documented, appropriately, current activity in relation to the questions that are covered in this Bill concerning medical treatment of persons in a terminal state of illness, and so forth. I believe that it is an appropriate way to go.
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