Bandt's rant

While polls do consistently return an 80% vote for assistance to die the question cannot be taken as anything more than a vote based on a sense of compassion for those in need. Ask most people what their top ten concerns are for Australia and I'll bet that euthanasia & assisted suicide simply don't rate.

If there is a case for a national approach on these issues, the argument would surely be that it would be significant problems if one state had such legislation and the others did not. Decrying state governments' as 'bumbling on and quoting inaccurate information' is, quite frankly, as insult with no justification whatsoever.

And while we're on 'inaccurate information', Mr Bandt might like to reflect upon the fact that 'voluntary euthanasia' is not legal in Oregon and Washington as he states. There they have a system for assisted suicide only. It's only my opinion, but I don't think that a society that kills people is in anyway 'mature and civilised'.

578 votes is significantly less than each online newspaper poll on this issue over the last few years. Oursay.org will need to do significantly better than that to gain political traction.

"If Australia could not have national legislation the Greens would continue to work to achieve the change through state and territory parliaments," said Bandt. An accurate observation, no doubt.