IT’S HER third campaign and Stuarts Point resident Shayne Higson says the experience of the past three years has helped prepare her for this current tilt at a Senate seat.
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Shayne is the lead Senate candidate for the Voluntary Euthanasia Party (VEP) in NSW, campaigning for the legalisation of ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in Australia.
“The last three years have shown me that you can achieve a lot if you have the time and the motivation,” Shayne said.
“It is very frustrating to know that while support for voluntary euthanasia runs between 75 and 85 per cent nationally, our politicians continue to reject well-drafted bills.
“We shouldn’t need to be forming a single issue party like ours when we live in a democracy because our laws ought to reflect the values of our society … and should change if they don’t.”
She said that while the changes to the Senate voting system meant the chances of a minor party being elected to the Senate were greatly reduced, it was not impossible.
“By having six preferences above the line, voters can look beyond the major parties when they cast their vote.
“And with the option to choose 12 individual candidates below the line, people can also choose within a political party.
“I actually think the change will mean a more effective democracy … and if a minor party gets up it will mean it is there because it got the most votes.”
The idea of a ‘conscience’ vote among the politicians, according to Shayne, is not actually the answer, because the question is not one for the politician’s personal conscience but rather the collective conscience of the electorate.
Shayne said she believed support was growing for the Voluntary Euthanasia Party and that law reform was getting closer.
“We are also seeing our opponents getting more vocal … and more misleading information being disseminated.
“They are sowing seeds of fear and doubt and uncertainty and our job is to counter the scaremongering and keep in mind that three out of four people support our issue.”
Recent times have seen huge changes internationally for voluntary assisted dying.
“The Canadian Parliament has just introduced an assisted dying law (June 6) and on June 9, California’s End of Life Option Act came into effect, giving another 40 million Americans access to assisted dying.
“And here in Victoria, there is the fantastic news that the Inquiry into End of Life Choices has recommended an assisted dying law.”
She said the focused assistance of high-profile supporters like Australian television producer, comedian and former radio host Andrew Denton and more recently ex-prime minister Bob Hawke had certainly helped carry the message further.
“Andrew Denton has spent 18 months researching both here and overseas trying to answer the one question: “Why, in Australia, are good people forced to die bad deaths?”
With the election a shade over two weeks away Shayne said she was focusing on the myriad of tasks on her list: finalising paperwork, paying nomination fees, writing press releases, giving interviews, designing ‘how to vote’ material, ordering T-shirts, posting on social media and more.
To find out more you can follow VEP on Facebook.
