Peter Georgiou (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've never felt so conflicted over a piece of legislation as I do over the one that is before us right now. I have always supported the right for the territories to choose their laws around euthanasia. Part of me understands why there are many advocates for assisted suicide legislation. I only have to think back to the pain and suffering my late fiancee went through 15 years ago, fighting a rare form of cancer. She had been battling the disease for a few years when it came to the point where every breath she took was a struggle. In 2003 she took her last breath and found her peace. Witnessing this was by far the most gut-wrenching and devastating experience of my life. There were many times when we all wanted the pain, suffering, trauma and heartache to end. However, we still hoped she would beat this deadly disease. Cancer is a horrid disease. There are no winners, and the amount of pain and hurt it causes is immeasurable.

Fifteen years on, I have had plenty of time to reflect on this experience, but the reality is I'm still torn about the issue of assisted suicide. Who are we to deny someone's dying wish? Since meeting a group of doctors this week who are firmly against euthanasia, more questions have been raised, forcing me to question my stance on the issue. What are the safeguards that come with this legislation? Where is the safety net to ensure people who are just lonely or depressed don't get captured in this vacuum of assisted suicide? Is this the answer to our problem? Is this the solution? Don't we have any other options?

When we look a bit more closely, palliative care is something that seems to have been forgotten; it seems to have fallen off the radar. During my deliberation on this complex issue, I was stunned to learn that, of the 49 recommendations made in Victoria's inquiry into end-of-life choices, 30 related to the improvement of palliative care funding and access. Only one recommendation related to the introduction of assisted suicide, which, as we all know, Victoria has legalised. I believe investing in palliative care is an area of focus that the state, territory and federal governments must home in on. The dedication by nurses, doctors and carers in this area is phenomenal, and it is refreshing to note that Australian palliative care services are ranked amongst the best in the world.

What I fear about this proposed legislation is that it may capture people who aren't necessarily on their death bed but are in fact lonely and isolated, have no family or feel they are a burden on society and as a result are depressed and feel that the only option they have left is to end their life.

I feel we could do more in the palliative care space. If the stats are right, there are only two palliative medicine specialists for every 100,000 people living in the ACT or the Northern Territory, and that is some cause for major concern. I believe serious investment in palliative care is necessary to help patients live in a more comfortable space as they approach the end of their life. I'm not just talking about a comfortable bed or a pillow or turning up the pump on the morphine; I'm talking about a holistic approach. I believe it's important to sort out our palliative care system properly to ensure we have done all we can before we look at facilitating assisted suicide. Such legislation, in my view, is a last resort.

My fear is: if the territories are granted the power to make their own laws, what safety measures are in place to capture only those that they are intended to serve? After looking closely at the current legalised model in Victoria, I am not convinced it goes far enough to fill these gaps. Therefore, admittedly with a heavy heart, I declare that I will not be supporting this legislation.