Page 2890 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 September 1994
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MS ELLIS (11.38): I have a few brief comments I want to make, and they are really observations on the debate here this morning, as well as my thoughts on the Bill itself. I was interested to hear Mr De Domenico's comments, in particular when he said, "Why are we doing this? There is no evidence of a strong push by the community. I do not see them ramming down our doors", or words to that effect, "to implore us to pass such legislation". The observation I would make on that is, first of all, that maybe I have access to a better consultative process than he does, because my view of the subject is that there is a strong call for it, but by its very nature it is not the sort of subject that you will see people storming down the street and bearing placards over.
In a lot of cases, in fact, an issue like this, unfortunately, does not really come to the attention, the concern, or the consideration of people until they find themselves somehow touched by it or have a need to consider it. For those in our community who have the foresight to form a position on an issue like this before that, I commend them. For those who find themselves forming a position through need, or through involvement in the subject, I think they need our support as much as anybody does. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that a Bill of this kind is a welcome Bill within the community. I think the reverse would be more easily measured. I would be more concerned if my door was being pushed down by people opposing this. That is my measure of support, and I have not had evidence of that fact.
The point is that we have a very responsible medical profession who, as has been said in this place already, conduct their role in this area of medical care with great responsibility and, in fact, with great care and compassion. This Bill allows a protection of them to some degree, and I think that has to be applauded. What it also does is give us as an Assembly, and therefore the community as a whole, an opportunity to actually focus on this, an opportunity to make people aware of what is available to them. I noted in an interview with Mr Moore that I heard on the radio this morning that there was a point made that in some places where this is already the case the living will forms as such are not all that often used. While I am not disagreeing with that comment for a moment and while I fully understand that, I think it is only by debates such as this, by the bringing in of legislation such as this and by the opening up of the discussion as a general rule within the community that we will, in fact, see them used more often. I do not want to see them used, purely for the sake of their being pieces of paper that need to be filled in. But it is very important that people, who are in a position where they believe that they need to consider this sort of outcome for themselves, find a simple, open and compassionate way to pursue that outcome. At the moment, it is done in the dark. At the moment, it is done by them or their families, virtually in a blind fashion, and I think that bringing in legislation such as this opens the whole issue up. This makes it available easily to people in that position who believe that they need to access this sort of treatment or regime; so that they can actually do so without the fear of reprimand, embarrassment, misunderstanding or lack of compassion.
Whilst I find some of the comments from the members opposite particularly interesting, I find them in some ways offensive, in the sense that there is no real compassion being shown by them, in my view, by the points put this morning, to illustrate their care or compassion for the people that we are speaking of. That is where I really think we need to have this debate directed to. It is not a political point scoring exercise at all.
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