Ms O’CONNOR (Hobart) -Mr President, I am going to make a very brief contribution. I think the first thing that we need to do is thank the member for Mersey for the fact that we are here discussing Go Gentle’s 2024 report. It was the member for Mersey’s persistence and dedication and incredible patience that made sure we now have in place a safe, compassionate framework for voluntary assisted dying in lutruwita/Tasmania.
The first time I met Mr Gaffney properly was when we were on the Community Development committee back in 2009. Before that committee we had the first voluntary assisted dying legislation which had been tabled for debate in Tasmania. It was put forward by the then leader of the Greens, Nick McKim. History tells us that that was an unsuccessful attempt, but it has been amazing to watch the evolution of the debate over the journey. Initially, I believe that the Greens were the only ones in the lower House in 2009 who were prepared to support it even into Committee. It did not get into Committee, such was the resistance to the legislation and the principles behind it – but also, possibly, to the fact that the Greens had brought it forward.
In 2013, when we were in government with Labor, Nick McKim and Lara Giddings co‑sponsored the legislation. Legislative reform is an iterative process. Changing hearts and minds requires time, patience and effort, as the member for Mersey knows very well. Again, that legislation did not pass, but it got that bit further. We had major party members who were prepared to stand – sorry, the then opposition leader allowed for a Liberal conscience vote, and not one single Liberal member at that time in 2013 voted to support voluntary assisted dying. My memory is now coming back to me.
In the following term of the parliament, Ms Giddings and I put forward the Dying with Dignity legislation. We again went through a long process of engagement, conversation, tweaking of the bill and working with people, particularly the wonderful Margaret Otlowski[ok] and Margaret Sing[ok], who are dedicated and fearless advocates for reform. That legislation did not get through.
In the next term of the parliament, I was going to bring it forward. There was discussion about how we do it. Thank heavens the member for Mersey picked it up and took it through this place first, which made sure that a lot of the politics and the ugliness that was possible was taken out of the debate.
Here we have in Tasmania a really robust framework. I too attended the event at the Royal Hobart Hospital online on Thursday night, which was the medical practitioners in the space. I want to end with the story that was told by nurse Dr Jodie Semmler[ok] about Phil Lang. Phil Lang was a great character. My connection to him is a West Hobart thing: Phil and Sally and the Pigeon Hole. Their daughter, Rose is my daughter Stella’s great mate. Phil was really known for his love of great food and, more importantly, his love of very good red wine. He was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in late April 2022. He was the first Tasmanian to access his right to die with dignity under this legislation.
Jodie Semmler told this incredible, poignant story about Phil’s last days and hours and how she felt about it. It was her first job in the space. She just said her outfit seems so important to get right. She talked about these moments with Phil. He had a great wine there. He just kept talking and talking. She had administered the medication and he kept talking. So she had these moments of panic. There was three minutes of panic. Then he had a very animated yawn and fell asleep. The whole process took 23 minutes. She said at this forum, ‘I have learned that we can make the choice to embrace life even on that day. I walked away with a full heart’. That is what came through from all the medical practitioners who spoke at the event on Thursday night. A feeling of how profound it is that they are part of – it is terrible to call it a process, but they are a part of this moment, the end-of-life moment. There was a feeling of humility and respect for human dignity.
Jodie Semmler, nurse, walked away saying she had that really full heart. She said, ‘If you had asked me years ago if I would be a voluntary assistant dying health practitioner, I would have told you that you were mad. It is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling roles I have ever undertaken as a nurse. I learned to be more comfortable talking about death. The deaths are calm, peaceful, and profoundly beautiful’. She noted that she is a part of an incredible team.
Down at Marieville Esplanade on the beach there is a little park bench. Coincidentally, last week, before I knew this debate was on the Notice Paper, I had a look at the plaque at the back of the bench. The plaque is there for Phil Lang. It is called the Bench of Knowledge for Phil Lang, from the dog beach mob, because Phil used to take his beautiful dog, Lola, there on a regular basis. Every time I go to Marieville now, I will think of Phil – his heart, his courage and his big life, and the fact that this parliament made the right decision in passing legislation that gave Phil and everyone in that position where they know the suffering will be unbearable, the right to have a dignified death on their terms.
