Central Coast - Jul 07 News

The last meeting of local members (18 plus three guests) on 20 April 07 heard several reports from participants in the Freedom Ride/National Day of Shame (25-27.3.07) and the VES AGM (15.4.07). There was spirited discussion about my (I hope, constructive) critique of the former events:

• Travel costs prohibitive for a lot of otherwise interested CC members (train would have been much cheaper);
• Dinner could have been much cheaper if catered for in a community hall and not the costly National Museum of Australia;
• VES NSW not given sufficient acknowledgment of its financial contributions and its organisation role as distinct from Exit International;
• Too much (media) focus on PN and FS personally;
• Much too much focus (by them in public speeches and to participants) on the frail elderly present to the exclusion of the younger participants;
• More powerful to show diversity of interest/membership across all ages and ethnicities within both organisations;
• Book burning went ahead despite strong arguments against it by many participants at the initial briefing;
• Disorganisation, changes to printed timetables for events (to suit media, not those of us who were guests of non-participant friends in Canberra).

Members gave overwhelming support to the following proposals:

• 1 - VES NSW to urge Exit International to:
  (a)  organise letters to all participants seeking their willingness for their contact details to be shared with other willing participants across Australia; and
  (b)  to ask participants to contribute a copy of their (de-identified) Advance [Care] Directives to be published, with proceeds to be shared between Exit International and VES NSW in the proportion of their respective organisational financial contributions to the Freedom Ride weekend (unanimous). [The rationale for the latter is to recoup some of the financial losses to Exit International from the book burning.]
• 2 - That, subject to advice from VES NSW committee, I issue a media release saying I will read in public from The Peaceful Pill Handbook on Thursday 3 May in Gosford, in order to test the Federal Government's restricted classification of this book which may mean that public reading from it could be punishable by a seven year jail sentence (2 abstentions). (Note: for family reasons I have postponed this action until 12 noon Friday August 17, after our next branch meeting, but please confirm date with me on 4382 6516.)
• 3 - That VES NSW seek support across all States for a Senate ticket in the name of Right to Death in Peace (RDP) challenging the major parties for their opposition to the rights of Australian adults to information and the means to achieve a freely chosen peaceful death (unanimous).

All readers of this newsletter who are interested in supporting proposal 2 - my public reading (a non-member friend has already suggested she wants to protest this curbing of our free speech by reading some of the words), and proposal 3 - a Senate ticket to promote the RDP (or other ideas I have had since that meeting following discussion with members and friends across Australia) are urged to call me on (02) 4382 6516 or e-mail me on info@romainerutnam.net as soon as possible please, with your suggestions and advice.
from Romaine Rutnam.
Article archived on 29 Oct 07.