Take action on VAD

SUPPORTERS of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) would be dismayed at the announcement by the premier on Thursday that she is asking for draft legislation allowing VAD for her Government to consider after the October election.

There is no doubt that the premier has her hands full handling COVID-19 but she should also consider the suffering of people at the end of their lives and how this delay will affect those who were hoping to have a choice in how they die.

According to the National Coronial Information System, seven terminally ill Queenslanders with irreversible physical decline take their own lives each month.

If the Labor Government is not returned after the October election, it means that the 459 pages of extensive research carried out by the Health Committee, under the chairmanship of Aaron Harper, will be lost.

The LNP has shown no sign of supporting such a bill but has agreed on a “conscience” vote. Who in the LNP will cross the floor in a conscience vote after the appalling treatment of three LNP members who crossed the floor on the abortion debate?

The Health Committee presented its findings to parliament on VAD at the end of March and recommended that it should be allowed.

Ms Palaszczuk said VAD was a “very complex and personal issue, in which competing interests and views have to be carefully balanced and the lives of our elderly and vulnerable people protected”.

All of this was researched and covered in the report from the committee. The report contains strict criteria, safeguards and protections.

Over 80 per cent of the population wants to have a choice.

Politicians should reflect the views of their constituents, not their personal views.

The committee provided draft legislation, drawn up by two experts, as the basis of laws going forward. Why does the premier insist on repeating this process?

Surely the debate should be held now. Why should people continue to suffer while waiting for a bill to be presented in March 2021?

MARJ LAWRENCE, Condon.