Real agenda exposed

capital with a 100-gun salute followed by a service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Not one of our television stations has seen fit to broadcast such a moving and important event. As an exgunner, I can assure you a 100-gun salute alone is a huge tribute and a great sight and we should all be aware of the importance of Pukeahu. In 1865, the capital was moved from Auckland to Wellington to ensure the whole of New Zealand was fairly represented. It is well past the time when Wellington should have a major TV station based in the city to provide better balanced reporting available to all New Zealand.

Graeme MacFarlane, Raumati Beach After the recent pronouncements of Philip Nitschke, aka ‘‘Dr Death’’, no thinking person can rightly claim there is any bright line between euthanasia and suicide.

Speaking to an audience in Wellington on Thursday, Nitschke revealed the real agenda of the dangerous euthanasia movement.

Nitschke objects to the fact that any consultation or approval by doctors would be necessary, even though the criteria in David Seymour’s bill are mostly subjective and are expressed in the broadest terms possible, making abuse of the legislation a certainty.

But this is not good enough for Nitschke, who wants no controls at all on the promotion and practice of suicide. He told his listeners not to get the idea they are in control, because they are not.

He opposes what he calls the ‘‘medical model’’ in favour of the ‘‘human rights model’’ – namely that everyone has the right to take their life at any time. Nitschke admits there will be casualties but claims this has to be balanced with the greater sense of well-being of older people having access to knowledge about suicide drugs. No mention of our young Kiwis who are already committing suicide in record and alarming numbers. Melissa Hardy, Auckland