Death bill lobbyists poll all aspirants

The euthanasia campaign in Queensland is being led by a lobbying organisation funded by money left by former Brisbane lord mayor Clem Jones.

Queensland businessman and Uniting Church elder Everald Compton. Picture: Jeff Camden

The euthanasia campaign in Queensland is being led by a lobbying organisation funded by money left by former Brisbane lord mayor Clem Jones.

One longtime supporter of the Dying with Dignity campaign involved in lobbying is ­Everald Compton, a well-known Queensland businessman and elder in the Uniting Church.

Dying with Dignity Queensland claims to have about 1500 members around the state, with about 20 of them acting as electorate co-ordinators to put pressure on politicians.

The group has set up a website to record politicians’ support for euthanasia but so far no candidate has recorded a no vote, although well over half have not made a response.

DWDQ president Jos Hall said the group had been lobbying politicians on the subject for many years but had increased lobbying this year in the lead-in to the election: “Dying with Dignity is encouraging all our 1500 supporters to contact candidates with one simple question: ‘Do you support in principle voluntary assisted dying, knowing that 80 per cent of Queenslanders support this?’

“The reason we’re asking in-principle support is we’re well aware the actual legislation hasn’t come forward yet, and won’t until next year. But we’d like Queensland to follow the Victorian model, which is very strict. You need two separate requests to two different doctors on two separate occasions.

“And permission has to come from the person themselves, it can’t be a delegate of any sort. They need to have control of the situation right up to the point where they can say ‘No, I’ve changed my mind’.”

Dying with Dignity is one of several projects run by the Clem Jones Group, which is based around the will of the late Brisbane lord mayor who held the position for 15 years in the 1960s and 70s. Jones was also one of the city’s biggest property developers, and when he died in 2007, his will was worth more than $150m.

Mr Compton, now 89, is a well-known business figure in Brisbane who is the main driver of the Inland Rail project to have a train line running between Brisbane and Melbourne through western NSW.

He has been an elder in the Uniting Church for more than 60 years and disagrees with its position on euthanasia — the Uniting Church has joined all other mainstream churches in opposing moves to fast-track legislation on euthanasia.

“They’re out of touch with their flock,” he said. “All the polling we’ve done shows there is about 80 per cent support for this in the community. It’s just not accurate for church leaders to say they’re reflecting their congregations’ views when they’re obviously not.”

A survey for the Clem Jones Group shows 68 per cent of those polled who identify as Catholics support euthanasia, as do 79 per cent of Anglicans and 83 per cent of those identifying as Uniting Church or Presbyterian.