Lubeck Marja; Mallard TrevorMARJA LUBECK (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a real privilege to speak in this debate on the End of Life Choice Bill. It's the first time I have taken a call in the debates on this bill. I guess I was disappointed to hear a previous speaker try and shame the MPs that haven't spoken yet on this bill about not taking a call. I am absolutely convinced that every single person every single MP in this Parliament has done their due diligence has taken all the feedback listened to as many of the wide-ranging opinions as are out there as possible. So I don't believe that any one of us should feel ashamed for not taking a call in this debate. There is no right or wrong in this debate but there is obviously a huge division of views and emotions are running high in this debate. It's based on deeply personal and moral views. There are different views as we heard from different cultures and it's not confined to New Zealand because this is a worldwide debate. I was born and raised in the Netherlands. The Netherlands was a country that was the first in the world to make it legal for doctors to help people die. The Dutch law that came in in 2002 applies to both euthanasia and assisted dying and it basically codified practices that had developed over a long period of time and I would like to talk a little bit—take some of this call to talk a little bit—about the legislation in the Netherlands. While I'm not a member of the Justice Committee who had the mammoth task of listening to more than 3000 submitters I volunteered to be part of some of the subcommittees so I had the privilege to listen to many dozens of the submitters that came before the select committees and told their often very brave heartfelt deeply emotional stories. And I also unfortunately heard many misunderstandings and lots of much-repeated misinformation about how the law operates in the Netherlands. Two decades of research on euthanasia in the Netherlands have resulted in valuable insights into frequency and characteristics of euthanasia and other medical end of life decisions in that country. These studies have contributed significantly to the quality of the public debate and the regulating and public control of euthanasia and assisted dying. Those studies show that no slippery slope seems to have occurred. People in the Netherlands are proud of their legislation. They are proud of the fact that people are given compassionate and genuine choice when they believe they're at the end of their lives. A lot of the scaremongering about the law in the Netherlands is just that. It is not based on facts and it saddens me. It saddens me that so much misinformation has become part of the campaigning by those against the bill. Recently we had a Dutch medical expert Dr Theo Boer—he visited our Parliament to talk about euthanasia legislation in the Netherlands and he made a comment that has been omitted from many of the speeches by members who were at that meeting. What he said was that while he doesn't support euthanasia any more—he has changed his mind—he also did say that the New Zealand bill is better than the Dutch legislation. And at the end of the meeting I went up to him and I asked him what he meant by saying that our bill is better than that of the Netherlands and he said our bill the New Zealand bill is confined to those suffering a terminal illness that is likely to end their lives within six months. And that significant change that was made to our New Zealand bill was made because we have listened and taken into account the feedback from the submitters. Now I'd like to tell two different stories from two different people both diagnosed with a terminal illness. The first story is Kerry Robertson. She was 61 when she died in a nursing home in July of this year. That was only weeks after Australia's only euthanasia legislation came into force in the state of Victoria. The previous speaker Alfred Ngaro mentioned that legislation. She was the very first person to end her life under the new assisted dying laws in the state of Victoria. Relatives said that her final moments were beautiful and peaceful. Kerry's daughter described it as follows: We were beside her David Bowie playing in the background surrounded by love with final words spoken simple and dignified." Her daughter also said "Before this happened I was afraid of death but Mum was incredibly brave and the way that she died gave me a whole new perspective on death itself." Now for me I read that story and I felt it was a story of compassionate choice for people at the end of their lives. I said I had two stories. The other story I would like to tell is a story that deeply moved me from one of the submitters that came to our subcommittee and told his personal story of his elderly mother. You have to forgive me for having forgotten his name—we saw lots of people—but his story will forever be with me. He told the story of his mother who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and at some point her suffering became so intolerable she saw no end. She didn't want to continue and she tried to kill herself. She was an elderly lady. She tried to hang herself from the ceiling and she failed got into hospital came out and she tried it again and she failed again. Then one night as he described to us she got up out of the warm bed that she shared with her husband in her nightie. She went outside walked off the pier and jumped into the water and she drowned. There were no goodbyes. There were no final words. And this man and his family were obviously grief-stricken with the fact that they never ever had the chance to say goodbye to their mother and I don't think he will ever be able to live with that. So for me comparing the two stories made it really clear that I believe that people should have that genuine compassionate choice when they believe they're at the end of their lives. On a very personal note when I did my maiden speech I congratulated my great-grandmother on getting to her 98th birthday the day before. And I said I hoped she was listening because quite often she got the frequencies on her radio mixed up. Only two weeks after that she stopped eating and I had no idea that she was in that frame of mind. She stopped eating and my husband and my son who were over to visit in a weekend saw her while she was still conscious. I came home on Tuesday—no it must have been a Thursday—from Parliament. I went to see her and she was already unconscious so I never was able to say my goodbyes. And again I feel that that compassionate choice that you give people to be able to say a proper goodbye and do all the final wording that you need to do is so important. And therefore with my whole heart I commend this bill to the House.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: The Hon Michael Woodhouse. I want to tell people we are now doing five-minute contributions."