2007 AGM Keynote Address — Marshall Perron

This keynote address was delivered by Marshall Perron at the DWDV Annual General Meeting, 25th February 2007

Thank you for the invitation to address the AGM.

I recall clearly the time I attended the Right to Die World Conference here in 1995. Some of you were there... We felt warm with success having just passed the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act (RTIA) in the Northern Territory.

We believed that in time, when the merit of what the Territory had done was realised — other states would follow.

The NT legislation could not have happened without the assistance I received from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria. The groundwork done here as far back as 1985 leading to the preparation of a draft voluntary euthanasia Bill was invaluable.

Vital assistance was received from names you may recognise: Professor David Kelly, Professor Max Charlesworth and of course Dr Rodney Syme. Without their detailed responses to my many questions both in writing and verbally, I could not have confidently presented a solid case for removing the longstanding ban on assisting another human to die.

The birth of the RTIA was not without difficulty. Having survived the tumultuous public debate during the Parliamentary process, our opponents made application to the Federal Government to veto the NT legislation under a never- used provision in the Federal law which established the NT as a self governing entity.

To his credit, then Prime Minister Keating declined to accept the case put forward for a veto. Paul Keating said VE was a valid issue for the citizens of the NT to handle. The Act was then challenged in the NT Supreme Court. After surviving that it was off the High Court of Australia to contest an appeal.

So, having run the gauntlet of attempts to strangle the new law at birth, we believed we had made the quantum step of becoming a more compassionate society.

How wrong we were. In our naivety we underestimated the determination and organisational ability of the religious zealots on both sides of politics in Federal Parliament. You know that chapter of the story I'm sure — considering that another Victorian, Kevin Andrews, led the charge.

Since the veto, over one hundred Territorians who would have used the provisions of the RTIA to die peacefully have been denied that option and suffered the kind of death we all dread.

Thanks John Howard.

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You are all familiar with the figure of support for VE that has been consistent in a variety of polls conducted over the past few decades: around 75%.

I have never believed VE should be decriminalised just because a vast majority of the population supports it. Widespread community support should not be a prerequisite for all social reform.

Parliaments regularly legislate to meet the needs and wishes of minorities. There is a raft of laws aimed at making life more just for small numbers in our society, such as the disabled, indigenous Australians, organ donations, IVF recipients. (Even the terminally ill are catered for in some way: the law allows them to access their superannuation before they are 65...)

Only the individual initiates VE. All participation in the process by medical personnel is voluntary. Nobody who objects need have anything to do with VE.

It is my view that legislation aimed at meeting the proven legitimate needs of a tiny minority should be enacted even if most of the community were disinterested.

The consistently proven overwhelming support for responsible VE legislation is simply a bonus. The case stands without it. In principle the extent of support is not necessary — but very welcome.

You may not know that the 75% figure translates to eleven million eight hundred thousand adult Australians who believe their government should decriminalise VE with appropriate safeguards.

The number of Australians 18 or older is 15,770,000. 75% of that figure is 11,800,000. Wouldn't it be nice if they all joined organizations like DWDV! We would really have some sway with politicians then.

Although we have lost the gain made in the NT in 1995, it would be wrong to think that nothing has been achieved in the decade since. Voluntary euthanasia, once rarely mentioned anywhere — is now a common subject around backyard BBQs, coffee shops, talkback radio and newspaper columns.

Today some 36 million citizens in the Netherlands, Belgium Oregon and Switzerland have access to medical assistance to die in certain circumstances.

VE Bills have been introduced in SA, WA & NSW. While none of those private members bills have progressed very far through the legislative process, they are a necessary step in forcing the issue onto the agenda. Politicians in SA have vowed to keep introducing Bills as often as is necessary for as long as they are members.

"Australians 75 and over are
killing themselves at the rate
of three a week."

Even in States where no Bills have been introduced, like Victoria and Queensland, and at the Federal level, politicians know the subject is on the public agenda, thanks to the work of VE Societies, the controversial activities of Dr Philip Nitschke and a continuous flow of his profile cases where dying individuals courageously display their sad lives publicly.

The politicians may not want to address VE legislation but they know the issue is not going to go away.

And neither should it. Your Parliament has 128 members supposedly there to represent the interests of Victorians. Do any of them care about the horrific suffering experienced by those for whom palliative care is of little value? Do they care about the elderly Victorians who seek relief by hanging themselves, or who die by the gun or leap from buildings or in front of trains?

Australians 75 and over are killing themselves at the rate of three a week.

You won't read about these deaths in the newspaper because the media have a pact not to publish details of suicides. Their objective is not to encourage suicide by the reporting of it. The problem with that policy is that the community, and our politicians, are conveniently ignorant of what is happening around us.

The sad part of these lonely, violent, premature deaths is not limited to the individual who dies. The shameful fact is that most have to keep their intentions secret and sneak away from carers to avoid being prevented from their fatal act. We cannot quantify the anguish, anger, guilt, regret

and bewilderment experienced by family and friends in such cases. And the horror of finding someone who has died in this fashion and spare a thought for those who have to clean up! Someone has to pick up the body parts and wash the walls!

This whole subject is so unpleasant that you might forgive anyone who refuses to think about it. Anyone, that is, except politicians: that group we elect and pay handsomely to listen, to monitor what is happening in society, and work hard to find solutions.

Our politicians should not have the option of avoiding the unpleasant; the distasteful; the awful things that are happening around us.

While on the subject, let me reveal anew wave of suicides which are unrecorded as such. We have entered a new age of DIY death. Born of frustration at the lack of political progress on VE, innovative new ways to die quickly and peacefully have been devised and are being used.

While it is impossible to know the numbers, there is growing evidence of suffering Australians using inert gas to achieve a comfortable death. It seems that if the equipment used is removed and the individual was in very poor health, no one can determine that the death was not due to natural causes.

Such suicides are not being recorded, along with those Australians travelling to Switzerland to use the service offered by Dignitas. None of those deaths will appear in our ABS statistics either.

Every one of your 128 politicians has the right, indeed the responsibility, to introduce a private members bill on any subject they believe Parliament should address. It is true that very few private members bills ever make it into law. (Since 2000, just 10 PMB's were introduced here in Victoria and only one eventually became law.)

The reason PMB's rarely get up is because the Government uses its majority to dictate what items are brought on for debate and whether an item is allowed to advance through the various legislative stages.

"Telling 75% of your constituents
that they cannot have choice in
dying because 19% say it is against
their God’s will, is unacceptable."

Given the nature of VE, political parties traditionally allow their members the freedom of a conscience vote. When this does occur, we see real democracy at work, every member determining how they will vote without regard to how any other member votes. In parliament, that's uncommon.

Although a government may well use its power to prevent a Bill being listed on the parliamentary agenda for debate, that is no reason for any member to delay introducing a PMB allowing VE.

If 75% of adult Victorians support VE, that means there are just under 3 million Victorians of voting age who want their Parliament to adopt such a law. That's a mandate politicians ought to get excited about.

Particularly back benchers, and members of minor parties. History shows most of them will eventually retire having made little real impact on society. Here is an issue, which will relieve fear and suffering, reduce suicides, restore dignity and extend lives. And it has almost unparalleled public support.

This law reform is needed to formalise and decriminalise a practice, which occasionally occurs now, but a practice for which most patients regrettably cannot find sympathetic doctors prepared to risk their careers and liberty.

It's time we stopped pretending unregulated VE doesn't happen — time we stopped pretending palliative care satisfies every patients needs — stopped pretending elderly citizens are not choosing to die violently in fear of an undignified or painful death.

Responsible VE legislation should be boldly put on the Victorian Parliamentary agenda with a demand it be debated.

After all, you are not asking your Politicians to lead. You are asking them to catch up! Catch up with the 36 million in Europe and the United States who have access to medical assistance to die with dignity. Catch up with the 3 million Victorians who want the VE option.

If the Government uses its numbers to bury the Bill or to throw it out — protest loudly and introduce another one. And another one. SA started doing this in 1995, the sixth Bill has just been introduced.

The obvious question often asked is "if there is 75% support for VE, why have our politicians not passed legislation long ago." The answer is quite simple, but always disguised.

Politicians are afraid of offending the religious hierarchy who will mobilise their flock to feel that VE is against God’s will. Politicians believe that group feel so strongly about the issue that they would change the way they vote, because of it. In contrast, it is thought that those who support VE feel less passionate and will not change their traditional voting patterns.

However they can't say that in public. Telling 75% of your constituents that they cannot have choice in dying because 19% say it is against their God’s will, is unacceptable.

That is why you will hear those politicians who are cornered and have to say why they will not entertain legalising VE quote the usual spurious arguments, such as "No safeguards can be devised to ensure someone is not euthanised by accident."

"We don't want the kids knocking off their parents to get their hands on the estate." That one is the favourite of the Queensland Premier.

Or maybe you will hear "We should kill the pain, not the patient more Palliative care will eliminate suffering and no one will want help to die."

You will hear all sorts of dismissive one liners but you will not hear 'MY GOD SAYS NO: SO IT'S NO."

Even hard core Christians like Kevin Andrews muffle their faith when arguing against VE because they know the average Australian would be incensed to find out that the religious belief of a minority is what denies the majority choice in dying.

If it were not for the religious lobby, responsible VE legislation would be widespread in England, the United States and Australia today. This might seem odd considering polls show a majority of Christians support VE, but it is a fact.

In becoming a member of DWDV you join thousands of others across Australia from all walks of life. You spearhead a push for social reform by challenging old attitudes to death and dying.

Your commitment is an unselfish one. A few people may join organizations like DWDV for a brief period just to learn about how or if one can arrange to die with dignity in case they want, one day, to take that course. But the vast majority of people who sign up with VE organizations do so because they want an end to the needless suffering they know exists.

If you were interested only in your own needs, why are you here? Why pay subscriptions year after year, why spend hours on committees to keep this organization operational, trying to devise ways to put the heat on politicians.

Do we think Dr Syme doesn't know how to take his own life peacefully if he chooses to? Of course he does — he's an authority on the subject — yet for more than the decade that I have know him, he has dedicated innumerable hours to the struggle for social reform. Clearly not for himself. The same goes for many of you in this room today.

I commend you all for your unselfish commitment to making Victoria, indeed Australia, a better, more compassionate society, a place where we can die with dignity. I also commend you for your outstanding web site.

There has been progress, but we are not there yet. The fact is we will never get there without the dedication and commitment of citizens like you.

Please don't stop your advocacy, don't ever stop.

Marshall Perron