Who cares what the Christian and assorted god botherers ,communities and assorted anti input is .? We are talking VOLUNTARY ASSISTED dying NOT efun compulsory .
Here in the NT we all suffer one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt Govt(s) in Australian history. Telling every other Australian State and Federal Govt that they, the NT (CLP) Govt., that they will take no notice whatsoever of previous or current territorian voices? Has it not crosssed minds that territorian(s) a primary source of support leading to National acceptance of V.A.D.? Of course the naysayers do. And for that very reason? Once again . . . “governance” abandoned, and individual beliefs dominate!
These laws when implemented around the world have seen a slippery slope of expansion to eventually include (in Canada at least) the mentally ill and people who the government can’t provide suitable housing, In Canada it has risen steadily to be the 5th leading cause of death in 2024 after being introduced in 2016.
In Switzerland a man was charged with murder following the death of a woman using a “suicide pod” that was invented by our very own Philip Nitschke.
We are relying on a sane government that doesn’t want to kill certain people off because it’s expensive to house them properly, or medically treat them properly, or who aren’t getting kickbacks from private operators to expand their customer base, or medical insurance companies who are looking for a way to get out of paying for someones expensive treatment, or other bad actors who are looking for a “legal” way of getting rid of someone.
I like the idea in principle, but it’s just one of those things that can easily be abused and used against the people.
Lets hope that this isn’t another future tale in unexpected consequences.
Does this mean NTG Health Department CEO Chris Hosking & Catherine Webber who currently oversee a toxic, bullying workplace culture where cronyism, nepotism, favouritism over merit is gifted to medical senior executives causing the suicides of qualified, skilled independent employees like Shaun Joyce. RIP
As a Darwin End-of-Life Doula who supports dying with dignity, peace & free from pain I am concerned the NTG Darwin Health system & the NTG Public Service is not mature enough to handle NTG VAD Legislation although this means Territorians remain second class citizens due to cowboy lawlessness. Sad in 2025. Until the health system improves trust will not be restored.
It is most encouraging that a couple of Territorians bothered to read the Canadian report, now a published book, documenting the abuses of a law-change that I actively supported when it was then Chief Minister Peron’s project.
I have also read whistleblower reports from doctors in the UK outlining the unpublicised intention to use this act to eliminate old people, even when these are still active and productive, essentially as an overhead-reducing measure.
What has changed since we fought for this legislation? One factor is that I no longer trust doctors.
I am the CEO of Darwins97seven.com, I am also a qualified Primary Healthcare Nurse Practitioner and Midwife, with many years of nursing working with patients/people from day 1 to day death. The VAD lie is from my perspective and that of the majority of my 29,000, 15 year old and above listeners in Greater Darwin, (McCrindle research 2025 figures), simply a lack of willingness on the part of this and the previous government to adequately fund palliative care both within the palliative care unit and home care.
I have spent many years,(30) working in the area of childbirth both in Australia and Internationally and in end of life in both Australian and international settings including as the area manager for Community Hospitals Groups aged acre facilities throughout England, with 600 clients and worked through their end of life care. I share that with you to demonstrate to you that my position is not simply from the point of view of being a Christian who believes both birth and death are determined by God.
I have as recently as 12 months ago observed the death of an elderly gentleman as a result of secondary Cancer… the care he received both at home and then in the last week at the palliative care unit was ,(and this may sound strange), beautiful to see… the person in question was cared for pharmaceutically so that he was without pain, that last week was a sad yet beautiful week where the entire family spent time singing, laughing , crying , praying, sleeping in turns reminiscing over the entire wonderful and productive life of this amazing man. His Name was Philip and his life had been a life of service to the community of Darwin and to missions overseas in Indonesia. The family grieved together and by the time of Phils passing were so very pleased that they had had this wonderful experience of sharing the wonder of his life whilst he was there with them.
Yes this is much more expensive that killing someone because they are going to die anyway, …we do that to pets, but it is totally unacceptable to kill people …. The killing of the sick is barbaric…. The Eskimos used to do it, they would put their old/sick and no longer productive out on the ice and leave them to die…. Just because we can kill someone in a painless way, does not make it right… we are not God, we do not have the right to kill someone because they are sick. Call that what you like that does not change the fact that you are murdering a Human Being When we actually have the ability to assist them to die naturally but without pain…
Believe me the family of Phil treasure the time they had with him in both home care and in the palliative care unit it is much more expensive than sticking a needle in his arm and killing him, but the reward for both the patient and the family is unmeasurably powerful.
The Death Penalty is used in some countries for crimes against other individual, (murder), but sometimes for drug related crimes. But in Australia as we have just seen, a woman can choose to kill 3 people by feeding them poisonous mushrooms and all she gets is 33year imprisonment… this at a massive cost to the community, but to then turn around and say that this person is no longer productive within the community and is costing us big dollars to care for them with no chance of them ever contributing financially to the community again makes it ok to murder them is barbaric and no better than the Eskimo system of placing the aged and no longer productive members or their community out on the Ice because the alternative is to care for them and feed them when they are no longer producing for the community. What the VAD bill will introduce into the northern territory is basically the same. The blatant use of Quality Adjusted Life Year or (QALY’s)
One primary concern is that QALY calculations may inadvertently prioritize treatments for younger or healthier individuals over those for older or more seriously ill patients. This can lead to issues of equity and fairness in healthcare resource distribution. Moreover, QALYs may devalue the experiences of individuals with chronic or incurable conditions by assigning lower utility values to their lives. Consequently, critics argue for more nuanced approaches that consider individual patient needs and broader measures of benefit beyond QALYs. This was a system originating in the USA back in the 1970-80s to decide what is the best use of health dollars.
Regardless of what the Government may try to assert, Sticking a needle in someone’s arm or giving them oral medication which will result in death is significantly cheaper than Providing palliative end of life care such as described in the case of Philip above. They are basically reverting to the inhuman QALY measurement to save money. We kill Dogs that are in pain and dying, but Humans are not Dogs. These people have contributed to our society often for up to 7 decades Building this country into what it has become. WE are noy God… God is the creator of Life and is also the one who has determined the length of that life, Our responsibility to the Dying is to provide them with a respectful honourable transition from life to death in a manner that provides them and their family with a period of positive celebration of a life spent growing a family and contributing to a community. This is not done by making a law that allows us to murder those we decide are no longer productive and who in fact, are costing us money for no financial return.
Just to be Clear, Palliative care societies around the world have consistently emphasised that the medical termination of Life does not form any part of Palliative care practice. As per the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine. Their position in part is
“When aligned with a person’s preferences, withdrawing or refusing life sustaining treatment, (Including withholding artificial hydration or providing palliative care medication(s) to relieve suffering is ethical and does not constitute VAD. They also affirm that Hospitals, Hospices or aged care facilities should not be mandated to permit of facilitate VAD on site if it is contrary to the organisational ethos of care They also affirm that Assisted dying should not be available via an Advance Care Directive after the person loses decision making capacity with regard to VAD Coercion exists in many forms including social, financial and institutional. Practitioners involved in VAD must ensure that coercion, especially in its subtle forms, plays no role in an individual’s decision to access VAD; Their position also affirms Assisted dying should not be available via an Advance Care Directive after the person loses decision making capacity with regards to VAD;”
As such it is not legitimate to say that this body of physicians, with the greatest body of knowledge in relation to the care of those with an end of life illness are advocating for VAD
One chooses “Advance Care Directive ” because that’s exactly what they want to happen should they lose decision making capacity. To override this defies common sense and logic of the documents purpose to exist .
Here we go again .
Who cares what the Christian and assorted god botherers ,communities and assorted anti input is .?
We are talking VOLUNTARY ASSISTED dying NOT efun compulsory .
Get it sorted pronto
There’s a word missing from the headline David, after ‘Territory’ and before ‘Report’:
‘Government’
If your religion needs a Lobby then the product you’re selling can’t be much good.
Anyway, euthanasia is just a way to skip the queue to Heaven. That’s why Ol’ Nick’s annoyed.
Here in the NT we all suffer one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt Govt(s) in Australian history. Telling every other Australian State and Federal Govt that they, the NT (CLP) Govt., that they will take no notice whatsoever of previous or current territorian voices? Has it not crosssed minds that territorian(s) a primary source of support leading to National acceptance of V.A.D.? Of course the naysayers do. And for that very reason? Once again . . . “governance” abandoned, and individual beliefs dominate!
These laws when implemented around the world have seen a slippery slope of expansion to eventually include (in Canada at least) the mentally ill and people who the government can’t provide suitable housing, In Canada it has risen steadily to be the 5th leading cause of death in 2024 after being introduced in 2016.
In Switzerland a man was charged with murder following the death of a woman using a “suicide pod” that was invented by our very own Philip Nitschke.
We are relying on a sane government that doesn’t want to kill certain people off because it’s expensive to house them properly, or medically treat them properly, or who aren’t getting kickbacks from private operators to expand their customer base, or medical insurance companies who are looking for a way to get out of paying for someones expensive treatment, or other bad actors who are looking for a “legal” way of getting rid of someone.
I like the idea in principle, but it’s just one of those things that can easily be abused and used against the people.
Lets hope that this isn’t another future tale in unexpected consequences.
Does this mean NTG Health Department CEO Chris Hosking & Catherine Webber who currently oversee a toxic, bullying workplace culture where cronyism, nepotism, favouritism over merit is gifted to medical senior executives causing the suicides of qualified, skilled independent employees like Shaun Joyce. RIP
As a Darwin End-of-Life Doula who supports dying with dignity, peace & free from pain I am concerned the NTG Darwin Health system & the NTG Public Service is not mature enough to handle NTG VAD Legislation although this means Territorians remain second class citizens due to cowboy lawlessness. Sad in 2025. Until the health system improves trust will not be restored.
It is most encouraging that a couple of Territorians bothered to read the Canadian report, now a published book, documenting the abuses of a law-change that I actively supported when it was then Chief Minister Peron’s project.
I have also read whistleblower reports from doctors in the UK outlining the unpublicised intention to use this act to eliminate old people, even when these are still active and productive, essentially as an overhead-reducing measure.
What has changed since we fought for this legislation? One factor is that I no longer trust doctors.
I am the CEO of Darwins97seven.com, I am also a qualified Primary Healthcare Nurse Practitioner and Midwife, with many years of nursing working with patients/people from day 1 to day death. The VAD lie is from my perspective and that of the majority of my 29,000, 15 year old and above listeners in Greater Darwin, (McCrindle research 2025 figures), simply a lack of willingness on the part of this and the previous government to adequately fund palliative care both within the palliative care unit and home care.
I have spent many years,(30) working in the area of childbirth both in Australia and Internationally and in end of life in both Australian and international settings including as the area manager for Community Hospitals Groups aged acre facilities throughout England, with 600 clients and worked through their end of life care.
I share that with you to demonstrate to you that my position is not simply from the point of view of being a Christian who believes both birth and death are determined by God.
I have as recently as 12 months ago observed the death of an elderly gentleman as a result of secondary Cancer… the care he received both at home and then in the last week at the palliative care unit was ,(and this may sound strange), beautiful to see… the person in question was cared for pharmaceutically so that he was without pain, that last week was a sad yet beautiful week where the entire family spent time singing, laughing , crying , praying, sleeping in turns reminiscing over the entire wonderful and productive life of this amazing man. His Name was Philip and his life had been a life of service to the community of Darwin and to missions overseas in Indonesia. The family grieved together and by the time of Phils passing were so very pleased that they had had this wonderful experience of sharing the wonder of his life whilst he was there with them.
Yes this is much more expensive that killing someone because they are going to die anyway, …we do that to pets, but it is totally unacceptable to kill people ….
The killing of the sick is barbaric…. The Eskimos used to do it, they would put their old/sick and no longer productive out on the ice and leave them to die…. Just because we can kill someone in a painless way, does not make it right… we are not God, we do not have the right to kill someone because they are sick. Call that what you like that does not change the fact that you are murdering a Human Being When we actually have the ability to assist them to die naturally but without pain…
Believe me the family of Phil treasure the time they had with him in both home care and in the palliative care unit it is much more expensive than sticking a needle in his arm and killing him, but the reward for both the patient and the family is unmeasurably powerful.
The Death Penalty is used in some countries for crimes against other individual, (murder), but sometimes for drug related crimes. But in Australia as we have just seen, a woman can choose to kill 3 people by feeding them poisonous mushrooms and all she gets is 33year imprisonment… this at a massive cost to the community, but to then turn around and say that this person is no longer productive within the community and is costing us big dollars to care for them with no chance of them ever contributing financially to the community again makes it ok to murder them is barbaric and no better than the Eskimo system of placing the aged and no longer productive members or their community out on the Ice because the alternative is to care for them and feed them when they are no longer producing for the community.
What the VAD bill will introduce into the northern territory is basically the same. The blatant use of Quality Adjusted Life Year or (QALY’s)
One primary concern is that QALY calculations may inadvertently prioritize treatments for younger or healthier individuals over those for older or more seriously ill patients. This can lead to issues of equity and fairness in healthcare resource distribution. Moreover, QALYs may devalue the experiences of individuals with chronic or incurable conditions by assigning lower utility values to their lives. Consequently, critics argue for more nuanced approaches that consider individual patient needs and broader measures of benefit beyond QALYs.
This was a system originating in the USA back in the 1970-80s to decide what is the best use of health dollars.
Regardless of what the Government may try to assert, Sticking a needle in someone’s arm or giving them oral medication which will result in death is significantly cheaper than Providing palliative end of life care such as described in the case of Philip above. They are basically reverting to the inhuman QALY measurement to save money. We kill Dogs that are in pain and dying, but Humans are not Dogs. These people have contributed to our society often for up to 7 decades Building this country into what it has become. WE are noy God… God is the creator of Life and is also the one who has determined the length of that life, Our responsibility to the Dying is to provide them with a respectful honourable transition from life to death in a manner that provides them and their family with a period of positive celebration of a life spent growing a family and contributing to a community. This is not done by making a law that allows us to murder those we decide are no longer productive and who in fact, are costing us money for no financial return.
Just to be Clear, Palliative care societies around the world have consistently emphasised that the medical termination of Life does not form any part of Palliative care practice. As per the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine. Their position in part is
“When aligned with a person’s preferences, withdrawing or refusing life sustaining treatment, (Including withholding artificial hydration or providing palliative care medication(s) to relieve suffering is ethical and does not constitute VAD.
They also affirm that Hospitals, Hospices or aged care facilities should not be mandated to permit of facilitate VAD on site if it is contrary to the organisational ethos of care
They also affirm that Assisted dying should not be available via an Advance Care Directive after the person loses decision making capacity with regard to VAD
Coercion exists in many forms including social, financial and institutional. Practitioners involved in VAD must ensure that coercion, especially in its subtle forms, plays no role in an individual’s decision to access VAD;
Their position also affirms Assisted dying should not be available via an Advance Care Directive after the person
loses decision making capacity with regards to VAD;”
As such it is not legitimate to say that this body of physicians, with the greatest body of knowledge in relation to the care of those with an end of life illness are advocating for VAD
One chooses “Advance Care Directive ” because that’s exactly what they want to happen should they lose decision making capacity.
To override this defies common sense and logic of the documents purpose to exist .