The comment about finite resources requiring hard decisions to be made is, in reality, dead right and something that cannot be evaded or wished away by Government. What has tended to happen in Australian politics is that we get a Government that is spendthrift and wants to solve every problem by throwing money at it, followed by a completely different Government which is so miserly that problems across the board get worse.

"So what's a shot at another 6 months of life worth?"

The answer has already come out in the conversation: whatever the Government can responsibly afford after all the legitimate competing interests for the taxpayers' dollar become apparent.

Not being a Minister, I have no idea what the dollar figure should be. Perhaps the Ministers don't really know either but have to make a best guess based on the politics of the electorate and the arguments of the various lobby groups.

Until new things come along that impact on society and change its course, I'm not sure what else can be added to the debate.

legalize euthanasia!
Have you people gone mad! Six months of extra life at the astronomical cost of the government or personal purse is just insane.( A feeding frenzy for the profit hungry and lab rats comes to mind) Let people decide when its time to go.( if you really care, you will set them free) Yes! I can see myself now in years to come, looking out the hospital window, with tubes and wires hanging out of every orifice and knowing the inevitable is coming. TO HELL WITH THAT!

Overpopulation has already got us waiting in cue's, and don't tell me your not all feeling it, and if your not, then you must living on top of the Mount Everest!

Its simple! Change the laws! This torture of loved ones has gone on for long enough and with population growth, this has to be seriously considered.

Mother nature has kept the on going laws of "survival of the fittest" for good reason and it seems we humans like to go the other way on that one.

And if your religious! I am sure your god will understand. ( He is probably overcrowded himself) maybe that's why you haven't heard from him lately.

But all jokes aside, this "will" free up the system.

Got a better idea?

EVO

Legalising euthanasia would definitely be a step in the right direction - before we start debating the very difficult questions of what medical benefits qualify as state-supplied, we could start with letting those terminally ill people who actually want to opt out of life to opt out, instead of forcing them to endure further pain against their will.

It is a difficult question. Steel Mann, while I endorse your comments on the value of life, the simple fact is our medical system couldn't afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical treatment on everyone just to prolong their lives longer.
I think the prime reason why our medical establishment is facing such dire problems is because so much of the focus is on prolonging the lives of elderly people to ages that were a rarity even a few decades ago, with no consideration as to the quality of these lives, nor the cost to our medical system.

What of insurance? What of people who can't afford it, because the cost is so high, because of treatments for elderly people with failing health?

It's cold and harsh, but true. I'd wager that if all the people aged over 65 weren't in the hospitals, the drain on medical resources would reduce by more than two thirds instantly - however, I'm most definitely not advocating such a course of action and I think it's dangerous to think only in this manner, but it needs to be said.

It is indeed an incredibly different question, one to which I don't have the answers, but voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill would be the place to start.

Why stop at voluntary euthanasia?

Supposedly people start to deteriorate
after 60. So why not simply kill them
after they reach that age?

Think of the savings...long term in
medical expenses that would bring.

And we must at all costs think of the savings
involved - right?

Good to here foxy! Glad to see that your coming around. Come on! You know that's not what we are saying. Its like anything! if you want a bit extra, YOU MUST PAY FOR IT, but not at the expense of the system or family members.

When its your time, I wonder what selfish motivations you will choose when your life has ran its course.
YES! I will say it, old and dieing people are a burden and the longer one hangs on to a full and rewarding life, which most have had, the less there is for someone that really needs that bed. Could be your own grandchildred your hurting in the long run.

No-one is holding a gun to anyone's head over this, but for those people that have had enough.

If your old and still running around, that's great! its more for the ones who can not.

Don't you feel anything for these poor people?

EVO

This thread is coming round to it, but the focus has been on dollars as opposed to quality of life.

As I type these words, my mother is dying by degrees. She has a rare illness, schleroderma, which attacks the skin cells of internal and external organs. In my mother's case, her lungs are slowly being clogged to the point where she requires oxygen 24/7.

Presently she can still walk about but not without her "ball and chain" as she calls it - her portable oxygen.

This is a woman who has paid taxes all her life, supported an alcoholic war veteran and raised two children.

If I could give her 6 months of pain-free independent existence, where we as a family could give her all the love and attention for the remainder of her life. And that I could guarantee that she would then die peacefully - I would support that.

I am not suggesting that people in chronic, hideous pain should be forced to live. I, my mother and family are all in favour of euthanasia where quality of life is such that it really isn't worth living. We will be facing that moment soon. It is not something that I ever expected to have to deal with, because my mother had always been so strong and independent.

The fact is, we do waste our tax-dollars, yet quibble over the quality of life at the very end.

Everything.

Everywhere.

Ends.

If we can at least go peacefully, after serving our community, I don't think that is a big price to pay at all.