Letter Writing Guide – For Your MP

The End-Of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2020 passed the Legislative Council on Tuesday November 10. It will now move to the House of Assembly. The Second Reading speeches on the Bill will take place on December 3 and 4. It is important that we write to our local MPs over the next 12 days to make sure that they hear our concerns.

We need to ensure that politicians do not feel targeted by email but, we know that sometimes it is hard to know where to start when sharing your views on issues that are so significant as Euthanasia.

We have developed the following steps for your ease and impact. It can be considered a guide below for writing an email to politicians in regards to the assisted suicide Bill.

PLEASE NOTE: the list at the bottom of this post includes politicians from a variety of parties and a variety of voting intentions on this bill.

DO: Take some time to draft your first email. Once you have an email that you’re happy with, rewrite this as many times as possible to as many politicians as possible!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Salutation (written on list of politicians table below)

Address them as “The Honourable” MP’s name.

2. Introduce yourself

• Name
• Occupation
• Say that you’re writing in regards to the End-Of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2020.

3. Personal story – explain how this issue affects you.

4. Why oppose this Bill (choose one of the following lines of reasoning)

• The state should never sanction any action by a person conducted with the intention of hastening the death of another person.
• This Bill is completely unnecessary as palliative care can help alleviate end-of-life suffering. Better funding is needed to improve the availability and cost of palliative care.
• It is impossible to develop assisted suicide/euthanasia laws that can ever adequately protect the vulnerable.
• Doctors should focus on a patient’s health rather than giving them a lethal injection (euthanasia) or a mixture of poison to drink (assisted suicide).
• Assisted suicide and euthanasia laws inevitably expand over time.

5. Explain that this is an important issue that means a lot to you and will influence how you will vote in the next election.

MP Name	Electoral District	Email Address
Anita Dow	Braddon	anita.dow@parliament.tas.gov.au
Felix Ellis	Braddon	felix.ellis@parliament.tas.gov.au
Dr Shane Broad	Braddon	shane.broad@parliament.tas.gov.au
Roger Jaensch	Braddon	roger.jaensch@parliament.tas.gov.au
Jeremy Rockcliff	Braddon	jeremy.rockliff@parliament.tas.gov.au
Michelle O’Byrne	Bass	michelle.obyrne@parliament.tas.gov.au
Michael Ferguson	Bass	michael.ferguson@parliament.tas.gov.au
Peter Gutwein	Bass	peter.gutwein@parliament.tas.gov.au
Jennifer Houston	Bass	jennifer.houston@parliament.tas.gov.au
Sarah Courtney	Bass	sarah.courtney@parliament.tas.gov.au
Guy Barnett	Lyons	guy.barnett@parliament.tas.gov.au
Jen Butler	Lyons	jen.butler@parliament.tas.gov.au
Mark Shelton	Lyons	mark.shelton@parliament.tas.gov.au
John Tucker	Lyons	john.tucker@parliament.tas.gov.au
Rebecca White	Lyons	rebecca.white@parliament.tas.gov.au
Elise Archer	Clark	elise.archer@parliament.tas.gov.au
Ella Haddad	Clark	ella.haddad@parliament.tas.gov.au
Sue Hickey	Clark	sue.hickey@parliament.tas.gov.au
Madeleine Ogilvie	Clark	madeleine.ogilvie@parliament.tas.gov.au
Cassy O’Connor	Clark	cassy.oconnor@ parliament.tas.gov.au
David O’Byrne	Franklin	david.obyrne@parliament.tas.gov.au
Jacquie Petrusma	Franklin	jacquie.petrusma@parliament.tas.gov.au
Alison Standen	Franklin	alison.standen@parliament.tas.gov.au
Nic Street	Franklin	nic.street@parliament.tas.gov.au
Rosalie Woodruff	Franklin	rosalie.woodruff@parliament.tas.gov.au