‘Embrace life to the end’: Bishops’ plan

Bishop Tim Harris at Townsville's Sacred Heart Cathedral. Picture: EVAN MORGAN

CATHOLIC bishops across Queensland have announced a “Dying Peacefully – No Euthanasia Sunday” to reaffirm the church’s opposition to legalised voluntary assisted dying.

Townsville Bishop Tim Harris has joined the state’s other bishops in announcing the initiative, which the church says outlines its support for better palliative care services, and helps break down misunderstandings to the church’s approach to euthanasia.

The No Euthanasia initiative was launched last year, and Bishop Harris said the church’s position had taken on extra urgency given the upcoming state election.

The Queensland parliamentary health committee has recommended passing the VAD legislation that was first proposed in late 2018.

To become law the bill still needs to be drafted, introduced to parliament and debated – and there is no clear time frame when this will happen.

Euthanasia is lawful in Victoria in limited circumstances and could start in Western Australia by next year.

“We believe that everyone has a right to life and that those at the end of their lives because of a terminal illness should be offered the best palliative care possible,” Bishop Harris said.

“We also believe that Christians should reject a culture of death and embrace life to the very end.

“Our support for better palliative care is grounded in the common good of society. Better end-of-life care begins with better conversations about death and dying and how we can die well in ways that do not undermine the foundational values of our society.”

The Queensland bishops also have released a joint pastoral letter they say warns of the consequences of legalising euthanasia.

“Societies in which life is cheap suffer from maladies and injustices,” the bishops said.

Bishop Harris said there were misconceptions surrounding the church’s stance on the process of dying.

“We don’t want people to suffer unnecessarily,” he said.

“Most pain can be controlled by the use of palliative care, and when it comes to the end of life it’s important that there is a network of people around to support the person.”

Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee chairman Aaron Harper said earlier this year that the state government had given extensive thought to the VAD proposal.

CRUISING accounts sizeable portion of

Solah’s photo albums.

The mother-of-three is a sea travel veteran, by anyone’s standards, having sailed seven separate cruises over the past decade through the South Pacific, New Zealand and up Australia’s east coast.

Desperate to get back to her “happy place”, she has already pre-booked two cruises for next year, buoyed by the hope that life goes back to preCOVID normal.

But things on ships will be drastically overhauled in a new normal that will see operators instigate more safety precautions than ever before, to get people like Ms Solah back on board and keep the $5.2bn industry afloat.

“I am addicted to cruising, if I could go more often I absolutely would,” Ms Solah said.

“The pandemic won’t stop us … I am busting to get back on a cruise. We have one booked for the Great Barrier Reef next year with a group of 20 and are really hoping this goes ahead.

“You don’t see people stopping going to the shops or to the beach – for the states that can get out, going on a holiday is no different,” she said.

Cruise tourism is worth $5.2bn a year to the Australia economy and supports more than 18,000 jobs across every state, including regional and remote communities that have suffered enormously in the tourism shutdown.

And it’s not just cruisers and the travel industry for a Sarah that have taken a hit. It’s people along every link of the supply chain – like Steven Biviano, whose business Select Fresh Providores supplies fruit and vegetables to cruise ships, as well as hotels, pubs and clubs.

When cruising halted at the end of March, his business dropped by up to 50 per cent, with cool rooms switched off and warehouses all but empty.

With pubs and clubs now open and a shift to focus on residential delivery, his business is down about 30 per cent over all.

“And it’s not just us either – it’s the farmers, the growers, the chicken guy, the meat guy – so many people have been hugely affected by this,” Mr Biviano said.

“We did everything we could to sustain the business … but in terms of our cruise division – it’s been zero since late March.”

Mr Biviano, who is on a Cruise Suppliers Advisory Group made up of businesses that supply cruise lines’

on-board operations, said the impact for Aussie suppliers like him was considerable.

Aside from a surplus of produce that can’t be used since cruising isn’t occurring, there is a concern that if it were to return in three months, that would be the middle of summer with little stock available and threats of fires to crops.

Recent figures show the suspension of cruise operations cost Australia more than $1.4bn in lost economic activity up to September, threatening 4800 Aussie jobs. Commissioned by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, analysis forecasts that if the cruise suspension continues, the economic loss to Australia would total a further $3.8bn and put another 13,000 jobs at risk.

CLIA Australasian managing director Joel Katz said when the time was right, cruising would return in a carefully phased, regional approach, beginning with local cruises for local residents.

“With the help of scientists and medical experts, cruise lines are developing an industry-wide response to COVID-19 that will be adopted by all CLIA ocean-going cruise lines worldwide,” he said.

“The approach is wide-ranging, involving a door-to-door concept that begins at the time of a passenger’s booking, continues throughout the entirety of their journey, and concludes only after their return home.”

He said it would include robust screening and testing, expanded cleaning and sanitation practices and comprehensive shipboard prevention, surveillance, and response measures.

“Everything is being taken into account – boarding processes, dining, entertainment, ventilation, shore excursions – every step of the cruise experience is being examined,” Mr Katz said.

He said when cruising resumed in Australia after the December 17 ban lifted, it was likely to involve restricted passenger numbers and intrastate or interstate itineraries that, in time, could be extended to a trans-tasman bubble or “carefully managed” operations in the South Pa

cific.

CLIA ocean cruise line members worldwide this week agreed to conduct 100 per cent testing of passengers and crew on all ships with a capacity to carry 250 or more persons. — with a negative test required for any embarkation.

“We see testing as an important initial step to a multilayered approach that we believe validates the industry’s commitment to making health, safety, and the wellbeing of the passengers, the crew, and the communities we visit our top priority,” a spokesperson said. cruise cr lines crew passengers p

A report by the Healthy Sail Panel of international experts recently detailed 74 detailed best practices to protect the public health and safety of guests and crew.

They included compulsory testing, daily temperature tests, face masks, modified facilities, touchless check-ins, upgraded air filter systems, increased medical staff, designated quarantine cabins, and verified offshore excursions only.

“Despite the challenges our industry is responding to, we know there is an enormous total passenger visit days total jobs (direct and indirect)

Select Fresh Providores’ Steven Biviano, above, and Carnival Australia president Sture Myrmell. Pictures: PAUL EWART, SAM RUTTYN total wages and salaries (direct and indirect) value-added (direct and indirect)