Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on a matter that causes me great concern, and indeed distress, as it does for many. The South Australian parliament's lower house has passed a bill to legalise euthanasia. This was the 17th attempt to pass such a bill in South Australia, with the first such attempt being introduced in 1995. The current bill, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2020, was introduced in the state's upper house by Labor MLC Kyam Maher.

Under the legislation, euthanasia would be available to people who have lived in South Australia for at least a year, who are at least 18 years old and who have been diagnosed with an incurable disease, illness or medical condition that is advanced and which is expected to cause death within twelve months. If this bill passes into law in South Australia, it will be the fourth state in Australia to legislate euthanasia, behind Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

While I may not be directly involved in this debate in the South Australian parliament, I feel that as a community leader it's my duty to contribute to the wider debate on this issue and put on record in this place my opposition to the bill. To borrow an important point made recently by former Prime Minister Paul Keating, what matters is the core intention of the law. There is an ethical and moral threshold being crossed. The details and the so-called safeguards are a wholly separate debate. What matters overwhelmingly to me and many others is that this legislation would irrevocably alter the ethical ethos in South Australia. Let it be clear, it won't be without consequence to our society. I'm deeply uncomfortable about a parliament changing the moral fabric of our society in such a fundamental way. To play a part in choosing who lives, who dies and when and where that line is drawn is a question too big, and quite frankly too consequential, for imperfect human beings to make.

Legislating the ability for physicians to intentionally end a life or at least assist patients to do so also represents a fundamental change in the role of our trusted physicians. We trust our medical experts. When we're faced with a life-threatening disease, we know that their Hippocratic oath means that doctors will do everything possible to save our lives. It's a fundamental principle of the patient-doctor relationship. Doctors are unequivocally and unashamedly focused on saving lives and assisting us to heal to the best of their ability. This legislation fundamentally changes the role that doctors play and will operate to undermine the trust that exists in our society for our medical profession. I want to be clear: I have unwavering respect for our medical profession. The last 18 months have cemented my awe of our medical professionals and their steadfast commitment to protecting lives. I find it perplexing that the parliament of South Australia should be considering burdening our medical professionals with the task of determining life and death in such a way. Until now, they've had a clear role in protecting lives and saving lives, and a moral and ethical duty to care for those nearing death, to allow death to occur in a comfortable and dignified way.

Government, too, across the country pulled out all stops to save lives and protect them, and yet here I am standing in this place today speaking on a piece of state legislation that facilitates the termination of human life. Paul Kelly was so right in the Australian last month when he reflected on the absurdity of the moral contradiction on display in contemporary Australian society, which, most embarrassingly, most in our society don't seem to comprehend—namely, that we as a society have become so entitled that we now demand the right to decide who, when and how human life ends, while at the same time demanding that Australian lives be unequivocally protected from a global pandemic. As our state governments, including South Australia, move to legislate voluntary euthanasia, in my view and in my respectful opinion, it demonstrates that Australian society has lost its moral way.