X-Message-Number: 7037
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 11:52:10 +1000 (EAST)
From:  (Kitty te Riele)
Subject: Australia update

David Brandt-Erichsen has asked me to post news messages regarding the
euthanasia debate in Australia while he is away.

The second article posted here is the more interesting one: a poll showed
that 75% of people continue to support legal voluntary euthanasia in
Australia.

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>From The Age:

9 October 1996
MP may try to scuttle euthanasia bill
By KAREN MIDDLETON, Canberra

Federal legislation to overturn the Northern Territory's euthanasia laws
could be scuttled on the floor of Parliament in a move to minimise the
growing political damage it is causing the coalition.
A South Australian MP and euthanasia supporter, Mrs Christine Gallus,
yesterday told her colleagues in the coalition party room she was
considering asking Parliament to vote that the controversial bill not
proceed.
Mrs Gallus is believed to have received considerable vocal support for her
proposal from colleagues and Labor MPs have also indicated they may support
the motion if it proceeds.
Her position emerged as the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, expressed
regrets in the party room that the issue had arisen at all.
Mrs Gallus's move is likely to appeal to many MHRs and senators who are
concerned about the private member's bill presented by the Victorian MP Mr
Kevin Andrews. It would enable the NT's legislation to remain without
federal MPs having to vote either for or against euthanasia and risk a
political backlash.
Last night a Liberal backbencher, Mr Tony Smith, crossed the floor to vote
against the Government's bid to refer the bill to the Parliament's secondary
chamber, the main committee.
Later, Mr Smith said his move was prompted by a meeting with constituents
from his Queensland electorate at which strong support was expressed for
full public debate on euthanasia.
"Frankly it was absolutely clear from that meeting and also from the various
discussions I have had with constituents that they expect a public debate
where they can both hear and see it and not some debate that is sidetracked
and taken away from the pre-eminent chamber," Mr Smith said.
But the NT Country Liberal Party MP Mr Nick Dondas voted with the Government
despite a call from the NT Chief Minister, Mr Shane Stone, for a full and
open debate on the issue.
Mr Howard yesterday acknowledged that the euthanasia debate was causing
political damage, as divisions on the issue deepened in the coalition party
room.
He told his colleagues he wished the euthanasia issue, to be debated in
Federal Parliament on 28 October, had never arisen because of the
difficulties it was causing. But he said that as a move to overturn the
Northern Territory's euthanasia laws had come this far it could not now be
stopped.
Mr Howard refused to allow a party-room vote on a motion to dump the bill
but is believed to have said there was nothing preventing such a vote in the
chamber.
He has previously expressed his personal opposition to euthanasia and vowed
to support the private member's bill which seeks to override the NT law. All
parties are allowing a conscience vote.
More than a dozen MPs yesterday spoke about the damage the euthanasia debate
was doing to the coalition's stocks, particularly in marginal seats.
One marginal-seat holder said he had received strong political backing from
church groups ahead of the 2 March federal election and feared a backlash if
the debate proceeded.

* * * * * * * *

>From the Sydney Morning Herald


     October 9, 1996
     Poll reveals 75% of voters don't want euthanasia law overturned
     By MARGO KINGSTON in Canberra

     Three-quarters of Australian voters oppose the Andrews private
     member's bill to overturn the Northern Territory pro-euthanasia
     law, with virtually no differences on the basis of gender, voting
     intention or State of residence, a Herald ABG-McNair poll has
     found.
     The finding came as the bill's chief supporter, the Prime
     Minister, Mr Howard, yesterday ignored protests from Labor and
     downgraded debate on the bill from the main parliamentary chamber
     to a small room where debate cannot be broadcast.
     Sources said that in a stormy Coalition party-room meeting Mr
     Howard also overruled calls by Northern Territory MP Mr Nick
     Dondas for a party-room vote on dumping the bill.
     Mr Howard, who gave special permission for the private member's
     bill to be debated and voted on, said he would not allow
     Government business to be interrupted in the main chamber.

     The Northern Territory's Chief Minister, Mr Shane Stone, condemned
     the downgrading as "a slap in the face" for the Territory. "I am
     appalled that our Constitution ... will be debated in a side
     chamber in a committee environment in a room reserved for
     non-controversial bills," he said.

     The Opposition Whip, Mr McLeay, yesterday criticised Mr Howard for
     overruling standard practice to use the secondary chamber for
     routine matters, and only by consensus, and for Mr Howard halving
     debating time to 10 minutes each. "Surely this is important enough
     to have 20 minutes each on matters of life and death," he said.

     The majority support for euthanasia has continued virtually
     unchanged from the last AGB-McNair poll on the issue, taken in
     June 1995, showing that the recent death of Mr Bob Dent in the
     world's first legal death by injection has not moved public
     opinion.
     The poll showed that 75 per cent of voters answered "yes" to the
     question "Would you support or oppose the introduction of a law
     which protects doctors who assist terminally ill patients who
     choose to end their own lives?" The same percentage opposed the
     Andrews bill.

* * * * * * * *

>From the Sydney Morning Herald

October 10, 1996
Drive to stop vote on mercy killing
By MARGO KINGSTON in Canberra

 A pro-euthanasia Liberal MP, Ms Chris Gallus, is counting the numbers for
a possible move to block debate on the anti-euthanasia bill, as sparks
continue to fly over the downgrading of the debate from the main chamber of
Parliament to a small committee room.
 Ms Gallus said she would not proceed with plans to move a motion next week
to dump the bill without debate unless certain of success, an unlikely
prospect given the personal endorsement of the Prime Minister, Mr Howard,
for the bill.
 Strategists said Coalition MPs, many of whom are unhappy that the
conservative Lyons Forum faction of the Liberal Party forced the euthanasia
debate into the Federal Parliament, were certain not to cut off debate now,
as it would damage the Prime Minister's prestige.
 They said any backdown on debate would also alienate Senator Brian
Harradine of Tasmania, whose vote is crucial to the Senate approving the
partial sale of Telstra, and who passionately supports the anti-euthanasia
bill. The debate has already seen a Liberal backbencher, Mr Tony Smith,
cross the floor to oppose the removal of debate to a minor chamber, and the
Northern Territory Country-Liberal Party, whose two members are part of the
Coalition, will be directed to sit on the cross benches if the bill becomes
law.
 Further splits now appear certain, with the ACT branch of the Liberal
Party, whose Government would also be banned from passing pro-euthanasia
laws if the Federal law is passed, taking the debate to next week's Liberal
Federal Council meeting in Hobart.
 The branch will put a motion that "this Federal Council affirms the
fundamental right of the duly elected parliaments of the States and
Territories to make laws on behalf of their citizens, and to have those
laws respected by the Federal Parliament". The Northern Territory doctor
Philip Nitschke, who oversaw the world's first legally sanctioned
euthanasia, has been signed up by the Sydney entrepreneur Mr Harry M.
Miller. Mr Miller said yesterday that neither he nor Dr Nitschke would gain
any financial reward from their agreement.


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Kitty te Riele


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