Who would have thought it! As NSW hospitals are still under pressure to save people infected by the Delta strain of COVID, and the State emerges from a long lockdown, with businesses starting to open their doors at last, Alex Greenwich wants us to focus on his personal campaign to allow doctors to kill their patients.
What an unwanted distraction!
What the Government is rightly doing is focusing on the strong public health challenges while seeking to allow people to return to work when vaccinated, defending jobs and allowing business to recover. It is a tough juggling act for a new Premier but gives us all hope that soon NSW will return to life as normal.
But Alex Greenwich says he needs to have his dodgy bill debated immediately. This is legislative narcissism. It is a personal crusade. Lawyers are telling us that his bill is full of holes. Doctors are telling us they are don’t think that his bill is safe. What we need to do is take a breath here.
Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland have all decided to address the difficult issue of assisted suicide through a proper process of Parliamentary inquiry. It is crazy to rush controversial legislation in the middle of a major health crisis without proper Parliamentary oversight.
NSW Right to Life calls for a rigorous Parliamentary Committee inquiry into this proposed legislation. Stakeholders on all sides of the debate should be allowed to present submissions and make direct representation at hearings. If this occurred in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland why should NSW be different?
Dominic Perrottet needs to step in and insist on a proper Parliamentary inquiry into this controversial piece of legislation which, if enacted, would have dramatic implications for end of life care in NSW.
Dr Brendan Long
CEO NSW Right to Life
