Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I did not intend to speak on this committee report but I thought Senator Di Natale might do so, so I am more or less taking note of it to keep it on the Notice Paper. But, while I am on my feet, I indicate that the committee did have a look at Senator Di Natale's exposure draft of the Medical Services (Dying with Dignity) Bill. The committee made only two recommendations, and they were on the basis of this bill ever coming before the parliament. The issue is a deeply personal matter and, in the past, issues such as this and surrounding other personal matters have led to a conscience vote. For that reason, the committee decided not to make any recommendations about whether people supported the exposure draft or opposed it, and I do not think it would have been appropriate for the committee to do that.

What the committee tried to do in its report was to give a very balanced account of the views of the witnesses that came before the committee. We tried to be fair in highlighting a number of issues raised in evidence by those whom you might call pro the proposal as well as by those whom you might classify as being against the proposal. The committee think we have done a fair job on getting a balance there, so anyone who wants to pursue this matter further can read the committee's report and get a fair indication of what was said during the hearings.

I was very pleased, and I think all the committee were, at the maturity and sensitivity shown by all of those who gave evidence before the committee. Sometimes where there are very strong personal feelings on each side of the debate, witnesses can sometimes let their deep personal beliefs and feelings overcome their natural courtesy. But I am delighted to say that in this instance everyone giving evidence, and clearly those who gave evidence had very strong views one way or the other, they all acted very sensitively with proper consideration of the views of others even though they did not actually agree with them.

The two recommendations that the committee ended up making were that Senator Di Natale might like to have a look at adjusting his bill in accordance with a lot of technical evidence that was given about elements of the drafting of the bill. A number of lawyers, law schools and constitutional legal people did give opinions. I am sure that Senator Di Natale will take into account what those eminent legal brains suggested to him without getting directly into the issue. I think Senator Di Natale should be quite pleased that it got some of the best legal advice in Australia and he got it absolutely free. Those who gave evidence were happy to do that.

The second recommendation the committee made was that if this bill in its current form or in a similar form were ever to come before this parliament—it is a private senator's bill so it may not necessarily hit the deck of the parliament in the near future—all party leaders should allow all senators and members a conscience vote on this issue.

I thank the secretariat who, as always, did a wonderful job in preparing this report and in encapsulating the views of the committee so well. As I say, this is not an easy issue. I do have views on this and I have on the radio spoken about a couple of them but I am not going to go into that now.

We did receive some evidence from people who are vitally interested in this. I was going to mention someone who gave evidence quite openly and did not seek privacy but on consideration, as I am thinking on my feet, I will not mention names suffice to say it is a person who does have terminal cancer. He very bravely came along to the committee. He wanted the committee to hear his views. I will not go into what his views were but he did come along to the committee to give his personal views accompanied by his wife and his children. Without naming him—but hopefully he may well see a transcript of this speech at some time—I want to again, as I did at the time, congratulate him on his bravery and on his courage in coming before the committee and giving his personal experiences and his personal beliefs.

With that, if there is no-one else who wants to speak on this at this stage, I will seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.