![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/exitinternational.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Philip-Nitschke-The-Australian-620x376.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a great achievement by the Victorian government, and they should be congratulated for the way they went about it, to break the logjam we spent 22 years fighting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe downside is what they had to do is pass a piece of legislation which is, as they say, the world\u2019s most conservative. It\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most unworkable end-of-life laws, which really won\u2019t \u00adaddress the needs of a growing number of people who want control at the end of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to change the growing demand by elderly people to have access to their own choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Dr Nitschke said the changes would send a clear message to other states to enact similar laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian society is changing. But it\u2019s a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the world,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe led the world in Northern Territory in 1996; we are now 20 years behind these changes and Australia is pretty much back in the dark ages with these pieces of little embryonic steps.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The former president of the Victorian arm of the Australian Medical Association Stephen \u00adParnis, who has led a public campaign urging the parliament to \u00adreject the legislation, said he was concerned vulnerable people would not be inadequately protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose not just for me, but the MPs, the doctors, the many community activists who oppose these laws, it\u2019s a profound disappointment. Ultimately we weren\u2019t successful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to become law and we hope that our fears for the system will ultimately be proved wrong. But time will tell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to the Premier and Minister for Health: it\u2019s incumbent on you to use all of the authority at your disposal to enhance the palliative care as a matter of urgency. Without that sort of system in place, people dying don\u2019t have the choice you want to offer.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Victorian AMA head Lorraine Baker said she recognised the changes marked a \u201csignificant shift in medical practice in Victoria\u201d that would cause anguish for members of the profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cAMA Victoria will now focus on ensuring that the legislation\u2019s implementation process and regulations, in particular of the VAD substance and its controls, are correct, robust and safe for the medical profession and our patients,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Australian Christian Lobby last night vowed to fight the scheme, in a campaign targeting lower house MPs ahead of the next state election next November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Philip Nitschke has described the Victorian government\u2019s voluntary assisted dying bill as the \u201cworld\u2019s most unworkable end-of-life law\u201d as he warned the legislation would not satisfy all those seeking \u00adassisted suicide. The country\u2019s leading proponent for assisted dying and head of Exit International congratulated the Victorian government for passing the bill through the upper house, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n