Gold Coast MP Rob Molhoek reveals ‘deeply personal’ ties, concern after assisted dying report released

The state government has been urged to make voluntary assisted dying legal ahead of a conscience vote next month, but a Gold Coast MP has warned there are still many concerns with the law.

THE state government has been urged to make voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legal ahead of a conscience vote next month, but a Gold Coast MP has warned there are still many concerns with the law.

A report by the health and environment committee, following months of hearings and 1360 submissions from across the state, has recommended making the practice legal.

The 327-page report also recommended the Criminal Code be changed “as a matter of urgency” to protect doctors and other people carrying out the procedure.

MPs will be given a conscience vote in September when the “historic” proposed laws are debated in parliament.

But Southport LNP MP and deputy committee chair Rob Molhoek said concerns about the laws needed to be addressed.

“The only recommendation (the Labor members of the committee) would accept was to request the federal government change the Telehealth laws,” he said.

Rob Molhoek. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

“So all those organisations that made submissions, some of them very reasonable, have basically been ignored.”

He said his concerns included:

● The appropriateness of the proposed laws;

● The principals of freedom, choice and personal responsibility;

● The capacity of the health care system;

● Unconsidered recommendations;

● Access to palliative care, and;

● The legislation itself.

He said in a written response to the report that he had been “moved to tears” by the 1360 submissions made in committee hearings, adding the issue was “deeply personal”.

“One Saturday afternoon about 10 years ago I received a telephone call from my cousin, he was calling to say goodbye,” he wrote.

“At first I was a little confused, then it became clear he and his partner were planning to terminate their lives at home among friends on Monday.

“He and his partner were diagnosed with cancer and continued to battle this terrible disease for the best part of a decade, living with the knowledge they both only had a matter of months to live.

“I learned that weekend, it is one thing to hold certain views and opinions but quite another to be confronted with the reality of another person’s lived experiences.”

The VAD bill will go to a vote in September following state government consultation.

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