GREG
Michael, if I can start with you. Euthanasia - does it come down to
a simple right to choose, or is there more to it than that?
MICHAEL BARNETT - Auckland Chamber of Commerce Chief
Executive
I think there's probably more to it than that, and to me its not
just about those that are tired of life. I think Maryans in the
right place when she's looking terminal determination. I have to
say that when I look back a hundred years and look at the
technology that weve put in place and the new medicines that weve
put in place that actually prolong life, weve got the opposite
happening, and I think being able to manage the prolonging of life
with some input from the person who may be terminally ill seems
reasonable to me.
GREG
But when you get right to the end of the line, to that point, Steve
Maharey, whos it for?
STEVE MAHAREY - Massey University Vice-Chancellor
I think the issue were talking about is a question of power. I
remember when I was lobbied in 2003 over this by a senior doctor.
He convinced me that Maryans approach is right because what he said
was, Look, this is an issue that should be left in the hands of
doctors. In other words, we want the power to do this. And I think
what's happening now is increasingly people are saying, Well, so do
we want some power as well, and we want some mechanism thatll allow
us to the decision at the right time in our lives, and we dont want
the medical profession to have all that power. After all, we have
to remember this is something that is happening. People are making
decisions about keeping people alive or not - whether they should
make heroic interventions, for example, during surgery. Those
decisions currently rely on the medical profession, and I think
these days people are saying, We want to have some choice as
well.
GREG
Those decisions are made the other way as well. Lets face it. Its
not out there, and its not talked about a lot, but theyre made the
other day, probably every day of the week, arent they, Michael? You
yourself have had a very public battle with your health and with
cancer. Your point of view on a personal level on this is what?
MICHAEL
I guess I had a look at it and one of the things that became very
very profound for me was I got to a point where I wasnt afraid of
dying, but I realised how much I wanted to live. If I had been told
that I was terminal, I think I would have wanted to exit in a way
where I could do it with dignity and pride and maintain a little
bit of me.
GREG
Would you have changed your mind had that decision been presented
to you five, six years beforehand?
MICHAEL
I dont know.
DR RAYMOND MILLER - Political Scientist
Yes, its interesting, because I think from Maryan Streets comments,
its not just the terminally ill, but the incurably ill that might
be covered by this legislation. That becomes a profoundly difficult
issue, not just because it impinges on peoples moral values and
indeed many religious values, but also because it impinges on
personal experience, and if she's successful on getting this bill
through - and dont forget its a private members bill and it has to
go into a ballot - it will be the third time this has been dealt
with in just over a decade. And what it means is this is seen as a
very difficult issue. When it was last voted on in 2003, Labour was
split. 45 voted for it; 46 voted against it. So political parties-
These are conscience votes. Political parties are all divided on
this issue, as well as the general public.
GREG
On that very subject, talking to Maryan Street before we did the
interview yesterday, she said a couple of people who voted against
it initially, she's spoken to them since, and theyve changed their
mind. We could be in for a bit of a shift on this.
STEVE
I think people have shifted, and I think it does come back to that
point that the world has shifted now and people want some control
over their own lives. They want to rely on the medical profession,
as Michael was saying. But at some point, you want to be able to
say, This is my choice too, not just the choice of people who are
around providing me with treatment.
MICHAEL
Accompanied by strict conditions and, you know, a shared ownership
of the response. I think the world has changed.