Top doctor slams euthanasia debate as Deputy Premier James Merlino makes bid to thwart Bill
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has caved to euthanasia opponents in his party and will allow a conscience vote on a Labor amendment aimed at derailing the proposed laws.
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PREMIER Daniel Andrews has caved to euthanasia opponents in his party and will allow a conscience vote on a Labor amendment aimed at derailing the proposed laws.
Senior Labor ministers this morning said a reasoned amendment put forward by Deputy Premier James Merlino - which would put the voluntary euthanasia plan on indefinite hold until concerns over patient safety were addressed - should be a procedural matter.
This meant that under ALP rules, all MPs would be bound to vote in a block against the motion, and no MP would be able to “cross the floor” in support of the change.
But after Mr Merlino made clear he would not back down and abandon his amendment, risking expulsion from the caucus, Labor MPs are now being told they can vote freely.
One Labor MP said it was “chaos”, but another source said advocates of the Bill believed they had enough support to ride out Mr Merlino’s bid to stop the laws.
A vote on the amendment is likely later tonight.
Earlier, emotional MPs continued to debate euthanasia laws, with Police Minister Lisa Neville opening up about her terminally ill mother’s last days being unable to eat or hold her head up.
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Ms Neville today said it was “almost impossible” to ignore personal experiences, as she described her mother’s death from breast cancer that left her unable to “speak, eat, drink, swallow, hold her head up”.
The previous day, Premier Daniel Andrews had choked back tears as he spoke about his father’s last days in palliative care before dying of cancer.
But the personal outpourings have been punctured by federal Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon taking aim at creating voluntary assisted death scheme because a “few powerful people see (a) parent die”.
Mr Gannon stood by his tweet, but the AMA’s Victorian branch said it “apologises to the Premier of Victoria, the Victorian Minister for Health, AMA members and others who have lost a parent”.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy recently lost her mother, Joan, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Gippsland South Nationals MP Danny O’Brien, who will vote against the plan to allow terminally ill Victorians access to lethal medication in the last 12 months of their lives, recalled when he and his wife were expecting twin boys born in an emergency.
One son, Riley, died shortly after birth, while his brother Finn suffered an incurable genetic condition that meant he would die within 12 months.
“Just past midnight one night at the age of eight months, Finn simply did not take his next breath. It was Mother’s Day,” he said.
“I guess I tell that story to emphasise the complexity of this debate. There is no straightforward end for any life.”
Bayswater Liberal MP District Heidi Victoria said her sick father who had often asked for a rope or a gun at the end of his life, before finally denying food and treatment to die.
Ms Victoria did not disclose which way she would vote, but said she would draw on personal experience to make a final decision.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said he would not support the Bill because mistakes could be made and “one mistake is enough”.
“I see my role as a legislator to protect and enhance humanity. That means to do all I can to keep Victorians happy, healthy, and alive,” he said.
State MPs are set to continue debating the issue late tonight.
DEPUTY PREMIER’S STAUNCH OPPOSITION CAUSES LABOR HEADACHE
MR MERLINO’S staunch opposition to the Bill and motion to scrap it until his concerns are addressed has been causing a headache for Labor’s caucus.
An explosive showdown looms in the Labor government’s party room on Wednesday over Mr Merlino’s push to derail the laws.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday learned of a tense standoff between Mr Merlino and the Labor leadership group over his opposition to the Bill.
Senior party figures are pressuring him to tone down the fight.
Mr Merlino wants parliament to vote to put an indefinite hold on the government’s Voluntary Assisted Dying scheme until concerns about protections for vulnerable Victorians are resolved.
Premier Daniel Andrews does not want to treat that vote as one of conscience, meaning Mr Merlino and other Labor MPs could face sanctions — including expulsion from caucus — if they break party lines.
Mr Merlino told the Herald Sun on Tuesday night: “I have moved the reasoned amendment and I will see it through.”
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said he would not support the Bill because he believed mistakes could be made under the laws and “one mistake is enough”.
“I have never believed that euthanasia legislation can be made foolproof,” he said.
“I do not support euthanasia legislation, I never have.
“I see my role as a legislator to protect and enhance humanity. That means to do all I can to keep Victorians happy, healthy, and alive.”
He said every Westminster system around the world had rejected these sorts of laws, and that the Bill was a “risky” proposition.
Another opponent of the Bill, Gaming Minister Marlene Kairouz, said: “I will be supporting the Deputy Premier’s reasoned amendment one way or another. This is a matter of conscience.”
On Tuesday night, up to 22 undeclared or undecided Legislative Assembly Members held the fate of the Bill — which would allow the terminally ill to apply for lethal medication if they have 12 months or less to live — in their hands.
But according to a Herald Sun poll of MPs, the “yes” vote only needed two more backers to have the numbers to clear the Lower House. It is believed the Bill will have enough supporters in the Upper House to pass.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Andrews made an emotional plea to MPs to back his plan, as he recounted the final days of his father’s life.
Mr Andrews said it was while watching his father Bob’s final days battling cancer that he realised how horrific death for terminally ill people could be.
“The stillness took hold and this giant unbreakable man slipped away,” Mr Andrews said.
“Until you have seen someone you love succumb to ... what some people say is a good death, that you start to think about what would be a bad death,” he said.
His wife Catherine, in the public gallery, wiped away tears.
MPs struggled to control their emotion during heartfelt speeches during the debate.
Mr Andrews said the Bill, which had 68 safeguards and required two doctors to declare the patient to be less than a year from death, would be the most conservative model of assisted dying in the world.
The medical profession is deeply divided on the Bill, which was proposed by a panel including former AMA president Professor Brian Owler, who pleaded for MPs to vote on the whole package rather than try to amend it.
On Tuesday, former AMA vice-president Stephen Parnis said a truck could be driven through the 68 safeguards, and slammed the ministerial advisory panel as loaded with euthanasia enthusiasts who had supplied an “inherently biased” report to parliament. “I don’t think an anti-euthanasia expert would have found a seat on the advisory panel,” he said.
Barrister Julian McMahon said once the Bill had passed, the state had crossed the Rubicon, where it would be absurd to support some suicides but not others.
“Some will soon ask: how can we be so cruel as to let the mentally tormented suffer endlessly?”
Elisa Fernandes, on behalf of Health Minister Jill Hennessy, said Prof Owler and his panel’s broad knowledge of the healthcare system was indisputable.
“No Bill in recent history has been subject to as much consultation or to such a robust process as this one,” she said.
“We are confident that the model they have proposed is the right one — it is the safest in the world, with the most stringent safeguards, checks and balances.”
Member for Bentleigh Nick Staikos said he had spoken to community members as well as experts and was confident in the legislation.
He raised safeguards around people’s capacity to make the choice of an assisted death, saying they were robust and backed the proposed law.
“A difficult and distressing death is not something any of us would want for ourselves,” he said.
Member for Bayswater District Heidi Victoria said it was “abundantly clear this is a decisive topic”.
She relayed the story of her father, who often asked for a rope or a gun, before finally rejecting food and treatment to end his life.
However, she said he did not have a terminal illness and would not benefit from the Bill but said many other people would and raised concerns over the one year time frame in the Bill.
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