Melbourne 8th December - Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews MP announced today that he is committing to introducing euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation into the Parliament midway through next year. The announcement comes at the close of the six-month deadline for the government to respond to the Legal and Social Issues Committee's Inquiry into end of life choices tabled in July. Recommendation 49 of that report suggested that the parliament move towards framing a new law.Mr Andrews' media release says that his government will create a 'Ministerial Advisory Panel made up of clinical, legal, consumer, health administrator and palliative care experts' to create the framework for the new law. The release further advises that a discussion paper will be released early in 2017 for public comment. The legislation is expected to be introduced into the parliament from July 2017. Continue reading

  The Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews MP will respond some time later this week to recommendation 49 of the 'End-of-Life Choices' Victorian Parliamentary report that suggested an assisted suicide regime for Victoria.Once clearly opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide, Andrews has conceded more recently that his recent experience of the death of his Father now tells him that, '(Y)ou have to allow those things to (let you)...perhaps take a fresh look at things,' he told The Australian today. Continue reading

by Paul Russell: Points for frankness go to the Victorian Greens this week with party Health Spokeswoman, Colleen Hartland throwing her party's support behind a 'limited', 'minimalist' legislative model for euthanasia. It's apparently not really what they want, but 'they will not scupper euthanasia reform in pursuit of policy purity' according to the report in The Australian.The Premier, Daniel Andrews, is expected to respond in early December to Recommendation 49 of the Legal and Social Issues Committee Report into End-of-Life choices that called for an assisted suicide regime with the option of euthanasia for those unable to kill themselves. Continue reading

by Paul Russell: Dutch journalist, Gerbert van Loenen once observed about euthanasia in his homeland that, 'Making euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide legal started a development we did not foresee. The old limit 'thou shalt not kill' was abandoned, a new limit is yet to be found.'When we abandon the principle that the law (in this case the criminal code prohibitions on homicide) protects all of its citizens equally, as van Loenen observes, drawing a new line is arbitrary. More than that; it is likely to shift further in ways that perhaps the Dutch did not foresee but that we at least, can now reflect upon given their experiences. Continue reading

by Paul Russell: The Australian newspaper is clearly going downmarket these days. There was a time when, regardless of the issue, one might expect to see some attempt at balance and research. Not so now if recent puff pieces on euthanasia are anything to go by.The latest article, though accepting pro-euthanasia statements uncritically, at least opens a window on some of the politics in the euthanasia debate. Continue reading

By Paul Russell: There's a truth that those of us pushing against euthanasia and assisted suicide know well; that the more people understand the issue, the more concerns they find, the less they are convinced that we should go down that path.Sure, it is not always the case but, time and time again I have seen the truth of it in action. Continue reading

By Paul Russell: The euthanasia debate returned to the public eye in Victoria once again last week with the announcement that up to half of the Victorian Premier's cabinet supports the idea of the government taking on euthanasia (rather than allowing for the possibility of a private members bill).The Premier has apparently opened up the discussion within his cabinet and the suggestion is that he will be lead by a majority decision in that forum. The fairfax press in Melbourne has been in a feeding frenzy over these comments in what looks, for mine, like an old-fashioned wedging ploy. Continue reading

By Paul Russell: On the 9th of June, the Parliamentary Inquiry into 'end-of-life choices' tabled its report. The report included 49 recommendations. The final recommendation was for a euthanasia and assisted suicide law for people 'suffering serious and incurable conditions'.Yesterday (14th September) the Victorian Health Minister, Jill Hennessy, announced that the government would proceed with a bill to create the possibility of legally binding advance care directives in respect to end-of-life care. The Minister was clear that Victorians, under this scheme, will not be allowed to request euthanasia or assisted suicide. Continue reading

Victorian Upper House MP, Rachel Carling-Jenkins (DLP - Western Metropolitan) made a statement in Parliament last week expressing her outrage at the murders of 19 people living with disability in Japan. ATTACK IN JAPAN: A HATE CRIME AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Dr CARLING-JENKINS (Western Metropolitan) 19th August 2016 - I rise today to express my shock and sadness at the killing of 19 people with disabilities at a Japanese residential care home on Tuesday, 26 July, over our winter break. This tragedy can only be described as a hate crime deliberately targeting people with disabilities. The man arrested for the stabbings, who killed 19 people and injured 26 others, had written a letter to the Japanese government. Part of that letter said, and I quote: Continue reading

by Paul Russell: Two memes dominate the pro-euthanasia rhetoric; choice and pain.Yet in a significant number of media stories featuring people who want access to euthanasia and assisted suicide we see that it is not pain that is the dominant driving factor; it is fear of the possibility of future pain and, most often the fear of loss of autonomy. The latter is often expressed in terms of not wishing to go to a nursing facility or hospital or loss of freedom of movement brought on by the accumulation of perhaps minor ailments associated with aging. Continue reading