A group of mostly elderly pro-euthanasia protesters has been turned away from a Queensland police station after trying to apply for gun licences.
The group stormed Brisbane's Roma Street police headquarters, led by high-profile voluntary euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke, waving placards which read "Let me die like a dog" and "I deserve better than a gun".
Police turned away the 25-strong Exit International group after telling members they could not apply for a gun licence unless they belonged to a gun club or were primary producers.
Dr Nitschke said the group wanted to make a statement about guns representing one way for elderly and seriously ill Australians "to regain control over their life and death".
"It's a protest to make a point the government has taken away the legitimate option of a person who's terminally ill getting help to die when the federal government overturned the Northern Territory law 10 years ago," he said on Friday. "Since that time they've made it increasingly difficult for people to even access information about end of life choices. And that's culminated in the passage in the Senate earlier this year of a piece of law, coming into effect on January 7, which will make it a crime to use a telephone to acquire information on end of life choices."
The Northern Territory was briefly one of the few places in the world with legal voluntary euthanasia, until the federal parliament overturned the legislation.
The Brisbane protest comes a day before Exit International will host its third biannual meeting, entitled the Peaceful Pill Conference, at the city's Convention and Entertainment Centre.
Speakers at the two-day conference include Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce, federal Democrats leader Senator Lyn Allison and civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman.
Dr Nitschke said Exit International did not condone death by gunshot. "(But) people are saying, 'Well, in the absence of a piece of (voluntary euthanasia) legislation, what's wrong with us getting a gun?'," he said. "A gun may not be the preferable way but it's better than rope."
Protester Caesar Pradella, 82, of South Brisbane, said he wanted to be able to choose when to die.
"We should have the right to die the way that we want," he said.
Haig Katazian, 75, of the Gold Coast, said he would end his life if a doctor told him he had "no hope".
"I'm not sick but I'm fighting to legalise this problem because when I become sick, I should be able to say I want to die," he said.
The protest also attracted young people. Antony Crome, 25, of Brisbane, said he had watched his uncle die slowly and painfully of motor neuron disease.
"We just feel there should be a peaceful pill available for people to take instead of suffering to the end and dying in pain," he said.
A group of elderly and terminally ill Australians has made a "peaceful pill" intended to end their lives.
It was an act of defiance against the Federal Government's anti-euthanasia laws, which one of them, a 94-year-old Queensland man, described as "stupid".
Twenty people gathered on a deserted New South Wales farm last weekend to make the barbiturate-like substance, similar to the fast-acting drug Nembutal, which was recommended under the Northern Territory's now-defunct voluntary euthanasia legislation. The right-to-die advocates, aged from 55 to 94, are all members of Exit International, headed by voluntary euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke.
They all have emphysema or motor neurone disease.
Kay, 55, from Victoria, was the youngest member of the group. She was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease and chose to take part in the world-first operation after witnessing someone die from a degenerative disease. "I don't want my husband or kids to look after me or to go into a nursing home," Kay said to The Bulletin magazine. She also worries about implicating others in her death.
"That is why I am here, so I can do it myself," Kay said. "I feel reassured by having the chemical and don't feel frightened or scared by it. With it, I can concentrate on my quality of life and will go down laughing."
Each member of the 20-strong group was involved, gathering information on how to make the drug from text books and friends with a knowledge of chemistry.
John, from Queensland, said legislation targeting people who encourage suicide on the internet prompted the group to making the deadly drug. "It's been a rewarding experience and the main message is that the Federal Government can introduce all these draconian measures but they can't stop us," John said to the magazine. "It's been a monumental feat to get elderly people in a remote location to do something that has probably never been done by aged citizens anywhere."
The proposed federal laws, which were introduced to Parliament in May, criminalise publishing information on the internet that instructs or promotes suicide. Under the new laws, this could carry fines of up to $110,000 for an individual.
"I think we are justified in challenging these stupid laws by taking the manufacturing into our own hands," Fred, 94, from Queensland told the magazine. "Let them prosecute if they want to."
As a result of the laws, Exit International's counselling service and website will move to New Zealand, while the group's political arm will remain in Australia. Three observers from the US witnessed the weekend event, including Ted Goodwin, president of the US right-to-die group Final Exit. He criticised the federal legislation, describing it as an attack on free speech.
Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke and Melbourne activist Dr Rodney Syme yesterday admitted advising terminally ill man Steve Guest on how to end his life. The two euthanasia activists yesterday challenged the grey areas of the law relating to doctors advising patients on suicide while the State Coroner yesterday confirmed Mr Guest's death was under investigation.
Mr Guest died on Wednesday morning at his Point Lonsdale home after a 10-month battle with cancer of the oesophagus. Both doctors admitted yesterday they had visited Mr Guest in the final days of his life and had discussed options of how he could end his life.
"He asked a number of questions about ways, if you like," Dr Nitschke said yesterday. "He asked about drugs, he asked about all sorts of questions and had done in previous times while he had been a member of Exit (the right-to-die organisation founded by Dr Nitschke)," he said.
Dr Nitschke said the coronial inquiry into Mr Guest's death was "interesting" as he believed the death certificate signed off by a local GP stated bronchial pneumonia as the cause of death. Neither Dr Nitschke nor Dr Syme was with Mr Guest when the former media adviser died on Wednesday. Mr Guest received publicity after advocating voluntary euthanasia in emotional pleas on Melbourne radio in the weeks leading up to his death.
Under the Crimes Act, it is illegal to "aid or abet any person in the commission of suicide" but euthanasia campaigners believe it is a grey area under the law whether doctors giving advice to patients constitutes aiding or abetting.
"I don't fear prosecution at all," said Dr Syme, who as president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria welcomed renewed debate on the law. "You don't prosecute doctors for good medical practice, surely," he said.
"I firmly believe - and Steve Guest illustrates it in spades - that if you give people advice and put them in control, the quality of their life is enhanced enormously."
Mr Guest, 58, had two daughters and was separated from his wife.
Meanwhile, Dr Nitschke said last night he was considering taking up an invitation from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of New Zealand to move his right-to-die organisation across the Tasman to thwart new federal legislation that comes into effect next January.
A MELBOURNE euthanasia campaigner risks prosecution after allegedly counselling Point Lonsdale cancer victim Steve Guest about how to die. It's alleged that Dr Rodney Syme told Mr Guest what was the most effective euthanasia method. Legislation deems it illegal to assist or advise anyone about suicide.
Mr Guest this week made an emotional plea for the right to end his own life after a year-long battle with terminal oesophageal cancer. Each day is a struggle for Mr Guest as his inoperable cancer slowly kills him, already taking his ability to eat or drink. He said he would have access to the barbiturate Nembutal when he decided he could no longer live with the disease.
Australia's most vocal euthanasia advocate, Dr Philip Nitschke, who on Thursday addressed about 150 people at a Geelong meeting on the subject, described the Australian law as insidious.
"It makes it difficult to advise people with accurate information" he said.
"I think what people need more than anything is accurate information"
He said Dr Syme's advice to Mr Guest, who is battling terminal oesophageal cancer, would not be detrimental to his own cause, despite the potential legal implications.
"Rodney, like a lot of us, wants to see new legislation brought in, and one way this is more likely is to make clear the inadequacies of existing legislation. Most people are actually surprised to hear a doctor cannot tell a patient for such advice they would think they could ask.'"
People who use the Internet to incite others to commit suicide or teach them how to kill themselves face fines of up to A$550,000 ($430,000) under tough new laws passed in Australia on Friday.
Using the Internet to counsel or incite others to commit suicide or to promote and provide instruction on ways to do it has been outlawed but the new laws were not designed to stifle debate about euthanasia, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said.
"These offences are designed to protect the young and the vulnerable, those at greatest risk of suicide, from people who use the Internet with destructive intent to counsel or incite others to kill themselves," Ellison said in a statement. Individuals convicted of such offences face a fine of up to A$110,000, while corporations face a fine of up to A$550,000.
Use of the Internet to organise suicide pacts emerged as a grim problem for Japan last year, with dozens of Japanese killing themselves in Internet-linked group suicides.
Helping someone to commit suicide is illegal in Australia but there has been a long-simmering debate about euthanasia. Dr Philip Nitschke shot to fame in 1997 when he helped four people die in the Northern Territory, where the practice was briefly legal before the national government stepped in to overturn local laws.
Right to die campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke is considering moving to New Zealand if a proposed Australian law is passed making it illegal to pass out information on assisted suicide. But pro-lifers say they'd be glad to see the back of him, and they hope New Zealand's natural beauty makes him "forget about helping people kill themselves".
An amendment to Australia's Crimes Bill, expected to be passed this year, would make it illegal to pass out information on assisted suicide via phone, fax, internet or email. Dr Nitschke said this would make it difficult for his organisation, Exit International, to operate in Australia.
"Most of our members are 75 years old and over, and they're ringing us all the time," Dr Nitschke said.
Under the changes, it would also be illegal for a person to email speech notes to their own email address if they had information on committing or assisting suicide, Dr Nitschke said.
"If the legislation is passed in its present form, we can face fines of up to half a million dollars for passing on information," he said. "New Zealand seems the easiest location for us to function out of because the government there doesn't seem to be moving the same way as Australia."
Dr Nitschke has run five workshops in New Zealand in the past two years. He said he expected the bill to be brought forward before July.
"Obviously the law has to pass and then there's a six-month period before it is enacted, so we would be looking at moving by the end of the year."
Right to Life president Margaret Tighe has welcomed Dr Nitschke's consideration of leaving Australia.
"It's our gain and New Zealand's loss," Mrs Tighe said. "I think it's a good sign that he's considering moving. Let's hope he becomes absorbed in bushwalking and the beauty of New Zealand, and forgets about helping people kill themselves," she said.
The Senate's legal and constitutional committee is conducting an inquiry into changes to the Crimes Bill and is due to report on the matter on May 10.
Federal parliament is going beyond its legal powers in its bid to ban suicide-related material on the internet, voluntary euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke says. The Senate's legal and constitutional legislation committee is examining a new law making it a crime to access or transmit suicide-related material on the internet.
It will be an offence to access, transmit, or make available on the internet material that counsels or incites suicide, and an offence to posses, produce, or supply material with the intent of making it available on the internet.
The inquiry is due to report on May 10, when the laws are expected to be debated in parliament. Dr Nitschke, from voluntary euthanasia group Exit International, told the committee in a written submission the proposed law would seriously affect the health and well-being of older Australians and breached the constitution.
"The legislation in its current form will exceed the authority and scope of the parliament of Australia," Dr Nitschke said. He said the law would restrict the flow of information to many people outside of Australia's jurisdiction, because of the global nature of the internet. This ran counter to the constitutional power given to the parliament "to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Australia".
"For example, the provision of specific information by email to an elderly individual in New Zealand would be in breach of the proposed law," Dr Nitschke said. "Such requests from overseas members of Exit are common."
He said it was important for all people to be well-informed about their end-of-life options.
"It should be realised that the censoring of this type of information will only promote the shameful national statistic of death by hanging as the leading means of suicide in this country," he said.
Civil rights lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia told the inquiry the bill should be scrapped, as it was already a criminal offence to use the internet to breach state or territory laws on aiding and abetting suicide.
But Graham Preston, from Right to Life, told the inquiry in a submission the law was needed.
"There are frequent expressions of concern by the community about the rate of suicide in this country," Mr Preston said. "To the extent that this bill may help protect at least some of those people who are vulnerable to committing suicide we would urge that it be passed."
The Australian Christian Lobby said the $110,000 fine seemed light compared with other state-based laws relating to incitement to suicide, which could result in jail. The group said the law should be extended to events, services and products relating to suicide.
The Senate committee plans to hold a public hearing in Canberra on April 14.
New laws imposing heavy fines on people who promote suicide on internet websites could catch thousands of innocent people, a leading euthanasia advocate said.
The federal government introduced a bill to parliament outlawing the publication of information about how to commit suicide. Although the bill is aimed at the internet, it could apply to information disseminated over email or phone, the controversial founder of Exit, Dr Philip Nitschke said.
"It's a very broad piece of legislation which I presume will have to be selectively applied because, if you actually take it literally, you would find large slabs of the Australian population would be in violation of this particular law," Dr Nitschke said. "It really is another example of censorship."
Under the new laws, promoting suicide could carry fines of up to $110,000 for an individual. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the laws were necessary.
"There is a real need to protect vulnerable individuals from people who use the internet with destructive intent to counsel or incite others to take their own lives," Mr Ruddock told parliament. Labor has said it would support the legislation, which was first introduced last year and lapsed when the federal election was called, but would refer it to a Senate committee for closer scrutiny. Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said the legislation should be called the "Nitschke amendment".
"I think it's an unacceptable intrusion on free speech. It's censorship," Mr O'Gorman said. "In reality, this is the Nitschke amendment," he said. There was no evidence to suggest that making information about euthanasia or suicide public would increase the rate of suicide in young people, Mr O'Gorman said.
"The reality is, as people live longer and as the debate about the efficacy of palliative care continues to rage ... (older people) want the opportunity to die at a time and place of their own choosing and this amendment will have the effect of denying people that opportunity," he said.
Dr Nitschke, who intends to hold a workshop in rural NSW this year to show people how to manufacture 10-gram barbiturate-based `peaceful' pills, also believed Thursday's legislation was aimed squarely at him.
"The idea of drafting a particular piece of legislation to just curtail one individual or organisation is particularly worrying, especially when you consider the breadth of this particular law," he said.
Dr Nitschke said the legislation did not spell out what was meant by "encourage" suicide, which may have implications for large swathes of the population.
"(One question) is whether or not giving people accurate information in anyway incites them (to suicide). Our argument is it doesn't do anything of the sort," he said. "But if you keep people in the dark - that is, restrict their access to information - you make them more desperate and desperate people do desperate things."
He could not say whether the laws would shut his organisation down, but said he would have to move his website overseas. He was also concerned the Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Material Offences) Bill 2005 could affect internet service providers that supported email systems and hosted websites.
"All in all, it would make life very difficult," he said.
Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin is severing ties with Dr Philip Nitschke - Australia's "Dr Death" - saying she can no longer support his controversial methods. Martin, 41, who was released from prison in December after serving seven and a half months for the attempted murder of her terminally ill mother, Joy, is also renaming her lobby group Exit New Zealand as Dignity New Zealand.
Martin was jailed last April after describing in her book, To Die Like A Dog, how she had injected her mother with a potentially deadly dose of morphine.
Martin and Nitschke, who runs Exit Australia, had worked closely together in their pro-euthanasia campaigns. Nitschke had been a strong supporter of Martin, and flew to New Zealand to welcome her as she left Arohata Women's Prison last year. But Martin now says Nitschke's controversial practices - particularly the peaceful pill project, which involves a group of people going to Australia's outback to create a lethal suicide pill for their later use - are concerning and she cannot support them. Nitschke held a series of workshops in New Zealand in December to recruit New Zealanders keen to learn how to make the suicide pill.
"That's a cause of concern. Dr Nitschke's intentions are going down the path of technology rather than trying to instrument legislative changes. I think Dr Nitschke is still continuing along that 'behind closed doors' path," Martin said. "I would be very concerned about travelling to a remote location and making a lethal dose of medication - that's not going to help people."
Martin said Dignity New Zealand would be running workshops particular to New Zealand issues, such as looking towards legislative change.
Nitschke said Martin had advised him of her plans to reinvent Exit New Zealand. "They say they have worries over this (peaceful pill) project and they don't want to be involved in it."
The first peaceful pill workshop, involving 35 people and including up to four New Zealanders, will take place in Australia in late June.
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