Damned if I Do

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Damned if I Do Page 21

by Philip Nitschke


  In his many-paged complaint to AHPRA, right-to-life activist Paul Russell claimed that Max Dog was a ­product used purely for suicide. He was wrong, and I trust the investigators at AHPRA will realise this. A visit to one of the many beer festivals running around the world will show the growing interest in the home use of nitrogen for dispensing craft beer. (While Guinness has long been partially gassed by nitrogen, rather than carbon dioxide, it is a much more recent development for other beer to be served this way. The effect is a beer that is creamy and, some say, more fulsome in flavour.) Exit organised Australia’s first ‘Nitro Night’ at the Wheatsheaf Hotel (‘The Wheaty’) in Adelaide in March 2013. Max Dog sponsored the evening and gave those attending the opportunity to compare the difference when beer is served using nitrogen rather than the traditional carbon dioxide.

  Of course, for a death by hypoxia to look ­unsuspicious, the equipment will all need to be removed. This presents another dilemma, in that most Crimes Acts contain an offence called ‘misconduct with regard to corpses’, or some similar phrasing, although the penalty for such an offence is generally pretty lenient; nothing like the years in jail that could result from actively assisting.

  What surprised me most about the second AHPRA investigation was the blatant political nature of the complaint. Russell openly acknowledged that he ‘would like to see Nitschke’s work and Exit International shut down’. While I am, of course, answerable to the law, Russell’s complaint to AHPRA was not legal in character; nor was it medical. And that is the point. In my response to AHPRA, I stated:

  I do not understand there to be any suggestion that I am lacking in appropriate knowledge or skills, nor in concern or commitment to the health of patients or people in general. I do not understand there to be any suggestion that I have been negligent in the treatment of patients, nor failed to observe any relevant standard of performance in medical practice.

  As Australian columnist Ross Fitzgerald wrote, ‘Nitschke says he feels this is a quasi-religious, political witch-hunt’.6 How right he is. What is AHPRA doing meddling in church politics such as this?

  Once again, lawyers are working pro bono in ­defending me. Indeed, offers of assistance have come from a number of surprising quarters, including some from the medical and legal professions, and also from the media. This support is greatly appreciated as the pressure to push me from the medical profession mounts. In social media quarters, a Facebook campaign to save my registration has been created and Twitter has proved an effective way of keeping supporters up to date with developments. I am damned if I do attempt to help those who are desperate to die, and I’d also be damned if I turned my back and walked away from them. This nebulous ‘fit and proper’ criteria applied in such a discretionary manner is hard to argue against. To those who believe in God, I will never be ‘fit and proper’, but should I be a doctor?

  If AHPRA makes such a decision when they finally end their long-running investigations, I could not only be suspended from practise but permanently deregistered as a doctor. While I’ll do what I can to stay registered, maybe it is just as well that I am prepared to turn my attention to other issues, and even other careers, should the worst come to pass. Chief among my potential new careers is to try life on the stage, doing stand-up comedy. I have already found an agent who sees the potential in this, and I am working on my first script.

  My decade and a half of working with those close to death has brought many tears of sadness but also a good deal of joy and laughter. My persecution at the hands of fundamentalists in both medicine and the church is, if ­nothing else, grist for my comedy mill. It was Ernest Hemingway who said, ‘A man’s got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.’ I hope the same might be said for going on the stage because that, for sure, applies to me. I do now have a head rich in ­stories of people, places, death and dying. Many tragic, but some hysterically funny, and all of them ­entertaining. I’d like to think there are worse things than dying laughing.

  A note from Peter Corris

  As any filmmaker will tell you it can take time to get a project up. Clint Eastwood is said to have taken seven years to bring the Oscar-winning Unforgiven to the screen. Some things that seem to be crying out to be done meet unforeseen obstacles.

  This book represents my third attempt to ­collaborate with Philip Nitschke in the writing of his ­autobiography. Some years ago, after I’d successfully and enjoyably ­carried out a similar exercise with Fred Hollows, environmentalist John Sinclair and actor Ray Barrett, I was keen to do ­similar work. Since the publication of those books, I’d been approached several times by people seeking my help. I declined because their stories did not meet the criteria I’d set for myself. I was interested in people who’d had active, not merely cerebral, lives, and, above all, people I admired. My agent contacted Philip to see if he was interested and a ­meeting was arranged.

  We met in one of my favourite places in Sydney—the University Motel in Glebe. Now demolished, it had a seedy history as one of the places where prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstepp used to take her clients. I’d stayed there myself and frequently used it as ‘safe house’ or assignation point in my Cliff Hardy novels. It was cheap.

  Philip was in one of back rooms, away from the traffic. We sat and talked for about an hour and had a beer. I liked him immediately—finding him direct and unpretentious—but he was very busy. There was talk of a film and other ­ventures and he reckoned it was premature to think about an autobiography.

  I was disappointed but accepted his decision. Euthanasia and Philip Nitschke were frequently in the news and I kept an eye on developments. The next approach came about five years later from Philip himself and his partner, Fiona Stewart. The time seemed right.

  We had several meetings—with one publisher at my agent’s office, with another at the publisher’s city office. I’d read Killing Me Softly, the book Philip and Fiona had published in 2005, and some press cuttings they had provided. I prepared a ‘pitch’ document they approved of for the publishers. But I realised this was not your ordinary autobiography. It would take a particular character to get the project off the ground. That person would be Louise Adler at MUP, who had recently attended a workshop in Melbourne run by Philip. She was impressed, as anyone who has seen him in action as a presenter—diffident but forceful, modest, compelling, anecdotal and funny—would be. Louise is married to Max Gillies, who I’d known at Melbourne High School in the 1950s and had occasional friendly meetings with ever since. Louise contacted me, saying she was keen to publish Philip’s autobiography. I was enthusiastic and things went on from there.

  I conducted ten interviews with Philip between August 2010 and April 2012. Several of these were in Philip’s and Fiona’s tiny unit at Kings Cross, several in my place at Newtown and, crucially, one in Darwin in December 2011. Given how significant Darwin and the Northern Territory have been in the Nitschke story, it was important to have some first-hand experience of the place. The Wet wasn’t the best time and, in the aftermath of the visit by the President of the United States, the city had a subdued air, but I saw Parliament House, where the ROTI Act was passed, and the hospital where the Nitschke-inspired ‘free speech?’ banner flew for hours in defiance of the authorities.

  At the property Philip and Fiona have outside Darwin, I saw the conditions under which he carries out scientific experiments. I also saw the Cossack motorcycle that figures largely in one chapter, and what might be considered the detritus of his adventurous life—the 4WD truck he and Marlies drove from Darwin to Perth, and the decaying boat that replaced the ill-fated Squizz. All this helped to provide texture and atmospherics to accompany Philip’s account of events.

  I saw, too, what Philip had said in his first book, Killing Me Softly, about the police invasion that resulted in them breaking into containers, taking away more material than the search warrant permitted and subsequent government embarrassment: ‘The police cars swept up the dr
ive …’ I’d imagined a concrete strip. In fact, it is a dusty, weed-strewn track.

  There were two major difficulties in getting the job done. The first was simply the hectic pace of Philip and Fiona’s activities. They were overseas, they were in several different states, they had only two days in Sydney … We fitted in the interviews as best we could, complemented by phone calls and emails.

  The second difficulty came when, a week before Christmas, with much of the work done but with still a lot to do, I was hit by a truck, and suffered a smashed elbow and a broken leg, which put me in a rehab hospital for six weeks. For much of that time, I had a cast on my arm and couldn’t write and, although I had my own room, there was no way to spread the working drafts, transcripts and other papers around it. Philip visited me after the surgery, a visit that got a mention in the media. All publicity is good publicity.

  Things went on hold but there was a slight side benefit. In this book, Philip describes the severe injury to his foot that put him on crutches and into hydrotherapy for a long period. I came to know exactly what that was like.

  Philip Nitschke easily met my criteria for a collaborative autobiography—an active life, devoted to a cause I approve of, and pursued with a courage and commitment I admire. It was my task to help bring these qualities into sharp focus.

  Notes

  1 A good idea

  1Many years later, I found myself speaking opposite Professor Lickiss at a dinner at the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences in Sydney. Her views hadn’t changed. As well, during her contribution, she engaged in word play on ‘Nazi—Nitschke—Euthanasia’, intimating that my role in voluntary euthanasia was somehow the same as the Nazis’ role in the Holocaust. I was quietly pleased when the then Commonwealth Solicitor, General David Bennett, in a question from the audience, pulled her up for the inappropriateness of her innuendo.

  2See: www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/push-your-vote-our-way/3556506

  5 Wave Hill

  1Historical photos can be seen at: www.gurindjifreedomday.com/bedford%20truck%20stories.html

  8 The Top End

  1See: www.abc.net.au/news/2009-05-26/bid-to-keep-killers-locked-up/1695000

  2See Chris Ryan ‘Sex Videos for Research: MP’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 December 1997, p. 2.

  9 First in the world

  1See: www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/jeremy-sims-blarney-falls-flat/story-e6frf96o-1225856123482

  2See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdiQScBQDRs

  3See: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=91717

  4See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9O3RjQDtpM

  5See: www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/30/1022569809397.html

  10 The overturn

  1Anthony Albanese’s speech against the Kevin Andrews Bill can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5fs-ZXntxo

  2http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F1996-11-06%2F0170%22 Wednesday, 6 November 1996, page: 6751, Main Committee, EUTHANASIA LAWS BILL 1996, Second Reading.

  3For the transcript of ‘The Dying Game’, see: www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s72769.htm

  11 Moving on

  1See: www.theage.com.au/national/this-is-angelique-she-wanted-to-die-with-dignity-20080912-4fi2.html; see also www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdxd_EFDd4s for Angelique’s plea to then prime minister Kevin Rudd to change the law on assisted suicide.

  2See the discussion of Erin Berg in chapter 14 for more on the importance of good record keeping.

  12 The courage of Caren Jenning

  1See: www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-prosecutors-reasoning-in-wood-trial-dangerous-20120224-1ttq9.html

  2See: www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/queensland-teacher-jailed-for-helping-suicide-of-man-76/story-e6frg6nf-1226272723498

  13 Adversaries and allies

  1G. Alcorn, ‘Legal or Not, Euthanasia’s Controversy Refuses to Die’. The Age, 10 October 1998, p. 1.

  2R. Syme, A Good Death: An Argument for Voluntary Euthanasia, Melbourne University Press, 2008, p. 214.

  3F. Stewart, ‘Mercy Groups Bicker over Death Pill’, The Sunday Age, 24 February 2002, p. 4.

  4www.stv.tv/weather/95276-controversial-euthanasia-doctor-speaks-in-glasgow

  5See: www.heraldscotland.com/baby-boomers-are-key-to-winning-euthanasia-debate-says-dr-death-1.826699

  6See: www.ft.com/cms/s/2/60bac5fe-8369-11e1-9f9a-00144feab49a.html#axzz21nOEjb19

  7See, for example: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-15588231

  8See: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-15588231

  9www.crikey.com.au/2012/09/17/fight-over-clem-jones-bequest-splits-right-to-die-movement

  10www.exitinternational.net/page/Deliverance

  11www.crikey.com.au/2012/09/17/fight-over-clem-jones-bequest-splits-right-to-die-movement

  12Kathryn Jean Lopez, ‘Euthanasia Sets Sail’, National Review Online, 5 June 2001.

  14 My life with the media

  1See, for example: www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/08/1086460287472.html

  2L. Scott, ‘A Life in Pain Is a Life in Prison’, The Weekend Australian, 30 March 2002.

  3G. McManus, T. Rindfleisch and I. Haberfield, ‘As Crick Debate Rages, a Melbourne Woman Says: I’m Going to End My Life’, Sunday Herald Sun, 26 May 2002.

  4D. Nason and N. Strahan, ‘Nitschke Has Explaining To Do: Premier’, The Australian, 28 May 2002.

  5The first of Medew’s fair reporting in The Age on voluntary euthanasia was the quirkily titled ‘$50 for a Cuppa and a Recipe to Die’ at: www.theage.com.au/news/national/50-for-a-cuppa-and-recipe-to-die/2008/03/11/1205125911255.html A second, more serious page-one ­article concerned the death of Angie Belecciu and was titled ‘Angie’s Choice: A Death with Dignity’ at: www.theage.com.au/national/angies-choice-a-death-with-dignity-20090324-98xs.html

  6www.theage.com.au/national/euthanasia-drug-snares-younger-australians-20100214-nzgl.html

  7See: www.lifesitenews.com/news/venue-cancels-dr-death-nitschke-suicide-workshop-in-uk-police-alerted-abou

  8See: www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/losing-erin/3069486

  9ABC journalist Kirstie Melville would take a similar unbalanced line in an episode, ‘Losing Erin’, of a Street Stories documentary on Radio National at www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/losing-erin/3069486

  10See: www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/losing-erin/3069486

  11‘Nitschke May Lose Licence Over Beer’ at www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/09/08/313433_ntnews.html

  15 Censorship

  1The full unedited version of Do It Yourself with Betty can also be seen at www.veoh.com/watch/yapi-f4VrKvGKvYw. Betty’s reply to YouTube’s censorship can be viewed at www.peacefulpillhandbook.com/page/MakingtheExitBag

  2www.cbc.ca/fifth/givedeathahand/interview.html

  3See: http://internetphd36.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/fed-nitschke-says-canadian-suicide-kit.html

  4Read the Media Watch transcript at www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1390968.htm

  5The edited segment can be viewed on YouTube under the title ‘Mademoiselle & The Doctor Euthanasia Documentary Censored Sequence’, or tag ‘exityourtube’, which shows all of Exit’s remaining YouTube videos. The transcript can be read at www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2007/s1916545.htm

  6See: www.smh.com.au/opinion/web-filtering-pulls-plug-on-euthanasia-debate-20090521-bh0s.html

  7Watch the program at www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2893505.htm

  8The ad can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRDZFwlWU1s

  9See: www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-10/pro-euthanasia-tv-ad-banned/2256644

  10See: www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaki
ng-news/per-cent-support-voluntary-euthanasia-poll/story-fn3dxiwe-1225791455181

  11See: news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/another-blow-for-euthanasia-campaign-20100915-15cfd.html

  12 The ‘Oxford Union’ entry in Wikipedia covers the controversy that I experienced at the hands of the Oxford Union.

  13Listen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=QViqeqwj7_E

  16 Going global

  1See: www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1890413,00.html

  2On 13 July 2012, the Canadian Government announced it would be appealing the ruling of the BC Supreme Court. This fight is far from over. See: www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2012/07/20120713-142557.html

  3www.sconews.co.uk/news/14380/diy-euthanasia-workshop-allowed-in-edinburgh/

  4See: www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/dearbhail-mc-donald-courts-facing-tough-task--issue-of-euthanasia-3243698.html

  17 Time out

  1To watch the program see www.abc.net.au/tv/messagestick/video/2008/July2008.htm?pres=s2310447&story=1

  2The group photo of the 1986 trip can be viewed at www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/handle/10070/9342

  19 Looking ahead

  1See: legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Citizen+initiated+referendum

  2See: www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/109_10/

  3See: www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/23/tony-nicklinson-assisted-suicide-twitter-interview

  4See: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19797634

  5Dennis Shanahan, ‘Nitschke Accused of Gas Import Scam’, The Australian, 31 August 2012, p. 3.

  6Ross Fitzgerald, ‘Seriously Ill Should Have the Choice to Exit’, The Australian, 17 November 2012.

  Acknowledgements

  Philip Nitschke wishes to thank long-term Exit staff Kerri Dennis and Amanda McClure.

 

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