Page 2957 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 August 2013
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formal their views and decisions about their own life so that this is clearly understood by both family and professionals.
Prior to this additional funding, the respecting patients’ choices program run out of the Canberra Hospital promoted the advanced care planning process. It was being administered by one part-time ACT Health staffer. This staffer also promoted advance care planning to other ACT Health staff. Increased resourcing for increased ACT Health staff dedicated to the program and improved promotion of the program will benefit more people, as many older people are simply unaware of the program. Of course, if they are unaware of it they are not able to avail themselves of it. That increased promotion will be very valuable and will give more Canberrans access to the information that can help them shape these decisions and be prepared for things that will eventuate but which they perhaps would not foresee without that information.
The issue of euthanasia has been raised in the debate this morning. The Greens have also been proactive in putting discussions relating to the right to die with dignity on the agenda. We do believe that a person who has a terminal illness and who is experiencing unacceptable pain, suffering or distress should be able to choose to request assistance from a medical practitioner to end their life. For this to occur, safeguards must be in place to ensure that the patient has decision-making capacity and is making the decision autonomously.
A bill that could have provided a more compassionate option for a very small number of terminally ill people experiencing unacceptable pain, suffering or distress was introduced by my Greens New South Wales colleague Cate Faehrmann in the New South Wales Legislative Council earlier this year. It garnered unprecedented support across the state and cross-party support within the chamber.
Of course, as Mr Hanson has touched on, a private member’s bill by Kevin Andrews 15 year ago does ban the ACT from legislating dying-with-dignity laws. My federal colleague and Australian Greens spokesperson Senator Richard Di Natale has been agitating to restore this right to the territories. Those who oppose this campaign should explain why residents of Australia’s territories do not deserve the same democratic rights as people in the rest of the country.
I would hope that this is a moot issue in this Assembly, but it seems from this morning’s discussion it clearly is not. I believe it is a fundamental right for all Canberrans that we should have the same ability to make decisions on these matters as other jurisdictions in Australia, rather than being treated as some sort of inferior jurisdiction or a jurisdiction not capable, not trusted, to take its own decisions in these matters.
I think also many Australians would take comfort in knowing that they have some control over the way in which they die. Certainly the public opinion polls show that more than 70 per cent of Australians support the right to die with dignity. I think this is an issue that will not go away and will continue to be discussed in many fora as part of this broader discussion that Ms Porter has started this morning.
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