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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2445 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

I also shared a very interesting forum with Dr Rowland on euthanasia. I found it very interesting. Whilst he was not opposed to the legislation that I had put up, he certainly was not prepared to agree with it. He made it very clear at the time that he, being a medical practitioner, certainly would not be prepared to be involved in assisting somebody to die. It was a very thoughtful speech that he gave. It was very different from many of the speeches I had heard before from medical practitioners on either side of the argument.

It was typical of Peter Rowland that he put so much time, thought and effort into where he stood, how he felt about things, and what he was going to do. Mr Speaker, I think there are many people in Canberra, not only in the gay community, not only in the community who are affected by HIV, but also very broadly in this community, who will sorely miss Peter Rowland.

MR BERRY (12.49 am): Mr Speaker, I would like to echo the sentiments already expressed in relation to Dr Rowland.

On another issue, I would like to raise a serious matter. This morning the Labor Party was contacted by a woman who had been scheduled for surgery this morning. The advice had arrived a month ago. She has been waiting for over six months for the operation. The woman is a single parent and had made extensive arrangements to have her child cared for. She had had to take leave without pay to have the operation. She had prepared her home for her absence. Yesterday she was advised by the booking office at Woden Valley Hospital that there was uncertainty about the availability of a bed, and she was asked to stand by her phone all yesterday in the hope that a bed would become available for her operation. At 6 o'clock last night she was told that her operation was still a possibility and that she should fast overnight prior to admission this morning. This morning she was advised that her operation had been cancelled and that she will be advised at some unknown time in the future as to when her operation is to be rescheduled.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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