Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today a strong Melbourne woman, Elizabeth Short, was in parliament to continue the passionate work of her husband, Peter, in advocating for the right of all Australians to die with dignity. Liz is joined in this mission by their son, Mitchell.

Peter Short died on 29 December 2014 in palliative care. He had access to Nembutal but decided he did not need to use it in the end. But he said that the access to it had added immeasurably to the quality of his remaining life. Knowing that he would not have to suffer was life-affirming.

Peter was diagnosed with incurable esophageal cancer early last year. He decided to dedicate his remaining time to fight for legislation so that all terminally ill Australians would have the same access to decide when they were ready to die. He directed extraordinary focus and energy to this task right until the end. Just last November, we participated together in a workshop to plan the campaign to fight for this legislation.

Peter found it hard to fathom how, when all the research in the last three decades showed that the vast majority of Australians supported this right to die with dignity, legislators found it impossible to resolve. Let's prove to Peter that we can do this. Vale, Peter. We will continue the fight.