Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Family First believes the phrase ‘dying with dignity’ is really code for euthanasia. The reality is: every Australian wants to die with dignity but not everyone wants to deliberately end someone else’s life. Family First opposes deliberately ending a person’s life or helping them to end their own life. We have already seen how far the euthanasia agenda goes. Dr Philip Nitschke has already moved quickly to assisted suicide, as well as giving depressed and suicidal people the means to end their own lives. This is not something that the Australian community believes is right.

Suicide is a major issue in Australia. In fact, more Australians commit suicide than are killed on the roads each year. Family First believes we should be focusing on supporting those desperate people who are thinking about suicide. We should be treating their depression and their pain. Family First does not believe euthanasia is a solution. It certainly does not address the needs of Australians in crisis. What message are we sending our kids? Suicide is not a solution. We should be looking at helping people who are obviously in desperate need of help. We should be doing all we possibly can. The motion we are debating is absolutely ridiculous.