MARK
What the Greens reckon …
Download: May24_EMRS_V_Euthanasia_Poll_09_N_McKim_ATTACH.pdf
POLLS SHOW OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA
And Confirm that Tasmania is a Compassionate Island
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Sunday, 24 May 2009
www.tas.greens.org.au
Tasmanian Greens Leader Nick McKim MP today released polling results which show overwhelming community support for voluntary euthanasia in Tasmania, with 78% of Tasmanians supporting a change in the law, up from 75% last year.
Mr McKim said that when people who were undecided or did not wish to express an opinion were excluded from the results, 85% of respondents supported a change in the law.
Mr McKim, who privately commissioned the polls from Tasmanian polling company EMRS, also said that the results showed that Tasmanians clearly hold values like compassion and respect for human dignity, which underpinned his Dying With Dignity Bill 2009.
“The results are no surprise to me, as I know that Tasmanians are overwhelmingly compassionate people, with a real respect for human dignity and freedom of choice,” Mr McKim said.
“Law reform to allow Tasmanians to die a peaceful and dignified death, rather than an agonising and often humiliating one, is clearly supported by an extraordinary number of Tasmanians.”
“Polls around Australia, and indeed around the world, consistently show support for voluntary euthanasia at around 80%, and it is beyond time that lawmakers caught up with public opinion on the issue.”
Mr McKim said that the polls show overwhelming support for voluntary euthanasia across age, gender, area, and voting intentions.
“Support for law reform in this area is extremely strong no matter where people live in Tasmania, what their age, and which political party they support.”
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Attached: EMRS Voluntary Euthanasia Poll, commissioned by Nick McKim MP, released May 2009.
