January 16, 2018

Euthanasia workshop in Lismore with ‘Dr Death’

Javier Encalada, The Northern Star, Lismore

EUTHANASIA advocate Dr Philip Nitschke will be offering an Exit workshop in Lismore next month, the first of five events organised in Australia.

Dr Philip Nitschke is an Australian author, and the founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International.

He said he believed the right to die should be recognised as a fundamental human right.

“If we’re going to acknowledge the right to life, we’ve got to be able to recognise the right to dispose of that gift. And that’s a right to death,” he said.

With the passing of Victoria’s Assisted Dying Act, which will become effective in 2019, Dr Nitschke’s workshops will focus upon the implications of this new law for the rest of the country, with a particular view to clarifying the rights that the law does and does not promote, and what a person can do if they are not Victorian.

Dr Nitschke said he believes “it is a fundamental human right for every adult of sound mind, to be able to plan for the end of their life in a way that is reliable, peaceful and at a time of their choosing”.

The Lismore meeting will provide an update on dying with dignity law reform in Australia.

The public meeting will be followed by an Exit workshop, which will be free for Exit members, and anyone else wishing to stay can join Exit International for a fee.

Attendance at Exit workshops is reserved for those over 50, and people who are seriously ill, or by special agreement.

The other four workshops will be held in Bundaberg, Sydney, Mittagong and Melbourne.

The free Lismore public meeting will be held at the Lismore Workers Club, 231 Keen St, Lismore, on Saturday, February 3, from 1pm. Further information can be found on exitinternational.net/meetings/workshops.