It will take the planets to align to achieve voluntary assisted dying law in the state, Dying with Dignity NSW president Penny Hackett says.
Ms Hackett said it would depend on the MPs in office at the time as well as who the leaders were.
“I think it’s very unpredictable at the moment,” she said.
Ms Hackett was the guest speaker at the Dying with Dignity NSW Mid North Coast meeting on August 28.
Dying with Dignity NSW is seeking legislation to allow competent adults, experiencing unrelievable suffering from a terminal or incurable illness, to receive medical assistance to end their life peacefully at a time of their choosing.
Advocates continue to push for law reform after the narrow 2017 defeat of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in the Upper House.
Ms Hackett urges people to lobby MPs on the issue.
What we need is to mobilise the community at a grassroots level to get the message to Members of Parliament.
- Penny Hackett
“What we need is to mobilise the community at a grassroots level to get the message to Members of Parliament,” Ms Hackett said.
“There is 85 per cent community support for voluntary assisted dying laws and yet the MPs are supposed to be representing the views of their community but they seem to be studiously ignoring them.”
Dying with Dignity NSW will release a scorecard on the political parties ahead of the 2019 state election.
The group has sent out an initial request for responses on voluntary assisted dying policy position.
Ms Hackett hopes the Voluntary Euthanasia Party will secure enough votes in its NSW Upper House tilt to send a strong message to the major parties about the community appetite for legislative reform.
She urges people to speak out on the issue too.
“They have got to keep having that discussion in the community and they have to make every effort to let their MPs know this is something the community supports and cares passionately about,” Ms Hackett said.
Dying With Dignity NSW Mid North Coast’s next meeting on November 27 will focus on living with a terminal illness.
