"Not a good look" said Phillip Nitschke to an ABC news journalist.  He was referring to the fact that  , the man convicted yesterday (Feb 16) in a Brisbane court of assisted suicide of Frank Ward in 2009 was the sole beneficiary of Ward's estate.Merin Nielsen Continue reading

  On the 23 of January, the  Continue reading

It's not very often that I find myself in agreement with Phillip Nitschke.  We've been on opposite sides of a number of debates both formal and informal in recent months.  But in Launceston he surprised me. In my presentation I described the bill in South Australia sponsored by Steph Key MP pointing out that it was very much a euthanasia free-for-all.  I drew the audience's attention to the fact that the bill did not even put up the pretence of safeguards (so-called).  I invited the three persons in opposition to us (including Nitschke) that night to join me in opposing the bill (if they believed in 'appropriate safeguards' as at least one of the three states on his website).Nitschke responded in very clear terms by saying that the bill in question was a 'decriminalization model' of euthanasia and that he wholeheartedly supported it.  And of course, he's right.  The bill effectively removes from the homicide section of the criminal code direct killing and assisting in suicide if the defendant (doctor or nurse or others assisting) 'believed on reasonable grounds that the person was an adult person of sound mind who was suffering from an illness, injury or other medical condition that irreversibly impaired the person's quality of life so that life had become intolerable to that person (the qualifying illness)'. Continue reading

  The Adelaide Advertiser Continue reading

 In South Australia, where euthanasia bills grow like weeds (or so it seems) the latest of four attempts to legalise the practice in this parliament alone, was dealt a critical blow this week. In a joint letter, the SA branch of the Australian Medical Association and the SA Society condemned the bill in what could only be said to be an unusual, but exceedingly welcome, move.To anyone who has not followed the debate, this might not seem to be news at all.  No-one expects the AMA to think otherwise and it is always possible that senior lawyers might see errors in the drafting or effect of a bill where others might not. Continue reading

In a very welcome move, the SA AMA issued a joint statement with the Law Society of SA making their opposition to the Key euthanasia bill crystal clear and on logically sound grounds.  See the letter: AMA & Law Society letter Sept 12 2011 Continue reading

  On the 18th of August the Senate debated and passed Senator Brown's .  Originally titled the  Continue reading

Labor caucus backs Brown's Territories Rights Bill Bob Brown seems once again to have proven who wears the pants in the Greens on-again-off-again love match with Julia Gillard and Federal Labor.Readers may recall that in early March of this year the Federal Labor caucus backed Brown's Territories Rights Bill only later to have that support overturned when concerned Labor MPs pointed out that the bill would facilitate both same-sex marriage and euthanasia laws in the Northern and Capital Territories.  Following on from that, the Prime Minister publicly declared that she did not support either issue; comments that had some, including this writer, believing that a conscience vote would be allowed which would give us a fighting chance of seeing the bill defeated. Continue reading

It has been interesting, and more than a little frustrating to read the comments by some South Australian MPs to the effect that the bill put forward by backbencher, Steph Key isn't about euthanasia but, rather, about giving added protection under the law for doctors going about their normal business (or words to that effect). It might seem obvious, but it needs to be stated that all legislation is about what the bill says and what the bill does; not what anyone tells us it will do.  A cynical retort to that point might be to say, "Well, in that case, why should we listen to what you say it's about?"  Fair point, but judge for yourselves from what follows.But before we look at the legislation itself, just think for a minute: if the bill isn't about euthanasia, why is Phillip Nitschke in Adelaide so often?  Why is he saying that  Continue reading

  WHEN the headline act in the Nitschke travelling road show's visit to Bendigo is titled, Voluntary euthanasia: Making choices in the context of Alzheimer's and dementia, we need to ask some serious questions about what the real agenda might be and who gets hurt.The following article was written in response to Nitschke's latest round of public meetings.  It appeared in the  Continue reading