The Voluntary Euthanasia Party (VEP) was a minor political party in Australia, founded in early 2013 by Corey McCann to advocate for legislative change to allow

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms o ...

in Australia. The party's inception was strongly supported by Dr

Philip Nitschke Philip Haig Nitschke (; born 8 August 1947) is an Australian humanist, author, former physician, and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International. He campaigned successfully to have a legal euthanasia law passed in Austr ...

, director of

Exit International Exit International is an international non-profit organisation advocating legalisation of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. It was previously known as the ''Voluntary Euthanasia Research Foundation'' (VERF Inc.). Exit International ...

and Richard Mills, then President of Dying with Dignity NSW. The VEP was registered as a political party from June 2013 to March 2021,Application for registration approved – Voluntary Euthanasia Party
Australian Electoral Commission, 1 June 2013. and had a federal branch as well as state branches in New South Wales and Victoria. In 2019, the New South Wales branch voted to become the branch of the Reason Party in that state, while the Victorian branch voluntarily de-registered in 2020 following that state's implementation of assisted suicide laws.

History

Before the party was founded and registered, a number of pro-voluntary euthanasia groups contested elections in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Doug McLaren was an 'Independent for Voluntary Euthanasia' candidate in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, before Nitschke led the 'Independent Voluntary Euthanasia' legislative council ticket in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. 'Independent Christians for Voluntary Euthanasia' both contested the 2010 election, and 'Independent Legalise Voluntary Euthanasia' ran in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. The party was founded in 2013 to bring attention to the need for voluntary assisted dying law reform and to bring together advocates from the Dying with Dignity and

movements. The immediate goal of the VEP was to make voluntary euthanasia a central issue at the September 2013 Federal election. In December 2019, the VEP's NSW branch voted overwhelmingly to become the NSW branch of the Reason Party, on the grounds that being a single issue political party was a liability, and the Reason party were established supporters of voluntary euthanasia. Reason party leader

Fiona Patten Fiona Heather Patten (born May 1964) is a former Australian politician. She is the leader of the Reason Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until sh ...

also stated the merger made sense for Reason as they did not have a branch in NSW, where VEP was well established. The Victorian branch was voluntarily de-registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission in July 2020. The federal party was the last to de-register, voluntarily de-registering in March 2021.

Executive committee

Professor Ranjan Ray, former President of the Western Australia Voluntary Euthanasia Society, was the first convenor of the Party, and was succeeded by Kerry Bromson in October 2014.

, the founder of

, was the Deputy Convenor until October 2016, followed by Kym Buckley (2016–2017), and Shayne Higson (2017–2019). The Party Secretaries have been Corey McCann (2013–2015), Sandi Steep (2015–2016), David Mahoney (2016–2017), Sue Inglis (2018) and Julie Hanley (2018–2019). The Party Treasurers have been Jane Stabb (2013–2015), Justin Templer (2015–2016) and Sandi Steep (2016–2019).

Definitions

There is no universally agreed definition of "voluntary euthanasia". Terms like dying with dignity, physician-assisted dying, physician-

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

and voluntary assisted dying are also used. The VEP regards voluntary euthanasia as involving a request by a terminally or incurably ill person for medical assistance to end his or her life painlessly and peacefully. A doctor may administer the medication or prescribe medication that the patient self-administers.

Election campaigns

The VEP participated in six Australian elections. They did not win any seats, though increased their percentage of votes at each re-contested election.

Federal

The VEP nominated seven candidates at the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of ...

: six candidates for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

(two each in New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory); and a candidate for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory. Three of the candidates were terminally ill. The VEP received 21,854 first preference votes in the Senate (0.16% of votes), while the sole House of Representatives candidate received 597 votes. The VEP nominated seven candidates at the

2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissol ...

: six candidates for the Senate (two each in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria); and a candidate for the House of Representatives seat of

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

in Victoria. The VEP received 23,252 first preference votes in the Senate (0.17% of votes), while the sole House of Representatives candidate received 973 votes. The VEP did not run any candidates in the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

, rather they focused on canvasing the views of major candidates in key electorates.

Victorian state elections

The VEP fielded ten candidates in five

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative C ...

regions at the

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incum ...

on 29 November 2014. The lead candidate was Dr Fiona Stewart, public health sociologist and co-author of four books about end of life issues including ''

The Peaceful Pill Handbook ''The Peaceful Pill Handbook'' is a book setting out information on assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Written by the Australian doctor Philip Nitschke and lawyer Fiona Stewart, it was originally published in the U.S. in 2006. A Ger ...

''. The VEP received 16,772 first preference votes (0.49% of votes). The VEP fielded sixteen candidates in eight Victorian Legislative Council regions at the

2018 Victorian state election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

on 24 November 2018. The VEP received 42,611 first preference votes (1.19% of votes).

New South Wales state elections

The VEP stood sixteen candidates for the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...

in the

2015 New South Wales state election A general election for the 56th Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of th ...

on 28 March 2015. The lead candidate was Shayne Higson. Higson began advocating for voluntary assisted dying legislation after her mother died from a brain tumour in 2012. The VEP received 40,710 votes (0.94% of votes). The VEP stood sixteen candidates for the New South Wales Legislative Council in the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

on 23 March 2019. Shayne Higson resumed her role as lead candidate. The VEP received 46,971 votes (1.06% of votes). Higson finished in 26th place out of 364 candidates; seats were awarded to those who finished in the top 21 places. In 2019, the New South Wales branch voted to become the branch of the Reason Party in that state, while the Victorian branch voluntarily de-registered in 2020 following that state's implementation of assisted suicide laws. In late 2022, the NSW branch of Reason changed its name to the Public Education Party. No explanation was publicly given for the name change.

References

External links

Official website
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

{{Political parties in Victoria (Australia) 2013 establishments in Australia Euthanasia activists Euthanasia in Australia Euthanasia organizations Political parties established in 2013 Defunct political parties in Australia Defunct political parties in New South Wales Defunct political parties in Victoria (state) Single-issue political parties Single-issue political parties in Australia Political parties disestablished in 2021