By Richard Egan.
To view pdf, click here.
In a unanimous decision by three judges of the Queensland Court of Appeal handed down in Brisbane on 19 June 2020 in the case of R v Morant [2020] QCA 135, Graham Morant’s appeal against his conviction for aiding the suicide of his wife was rejected on all four grounds of appeal and the sentence of 10 years imprisonment was upheld as fair.
Morant was convicted on two counts under s311 of the Queensland Criminal Code. The first was that he had counselled Ms Morant to kill herself and thereby induced her to do so. The second was that he had aided her in killing herself.
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Showing posts with label australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label australia. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Australia: Graham Robert Morant Loses Assisted Suicide Appeal

The ruling comes after emails between euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke and the man's wife were discovered following his conviction.
Graham Robert Morant (pictured here) was aged 69 when he was convicted of persuading his wife to end her life in November 2014.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Australia: If Assisted Dying Is a Right, Must It Be Made Available to Everyone?
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Queensland Parliament |
A Queensland Australia Parliamentary Committee has made recommendations concerning voluntary assisted dying or VAD, meaning euthanasia and assisted suicide.[1]
Of special interest is the Committee's Recommendation 17, referring to "rights" of the patients to access VAD. The recommendation states:
The committee recommends that any voluntary assisted dying scheme in Queensland provides health practitioners who may have a conscientious objection to participating in voluntary assisted dying to opt not to participate, provided that the rights of the patients to access the scheme are also protected. (Emphasis added).[2]
Monday, November 12, 2018
Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Counseling Suicide to Obtain Life Insurance
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Justice Peter Davis |
“However, one can imagine many circumstances arising where people in positions of trust and responsibility could succumb to the temptation to counsel suicide for personal gain.”
By Hope Australia
These confronting words were spoken last week by Justice Davis in the Supreme Court of Queensland, as he sentenced Graham Robert Morant to 10 years imprisonment for counselling his wife to commit suicide.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Australia: Husband Who Aided Wife's Suicide to Obtain Her Life Insurance Sentenced to Prison
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Graham Morant, AAP Dan Peled |
Graham Robert Morant was last month found guilty on two charges — counselling suicide and aiding suicide — for persuading his wife Jennifer Morant, 56, to kill herself in her car in 2014 and helping her buy the necessary equipment from a hardware store.
The court heard Morant was the sole beneficiary of Ms Morant's three life insurance policies, which Justice Peter Davis concluded was the motivation for his actions.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Australian Man Convicted of Assisting Suicide
An Australian man has been convicted of aiding his wife's suicide, after a court heard he had coveted payouts from her life insurance.
Jennifer Morant, 56, had suffered from chronic pain but was not terminally ill when she died in 2014, a court heard.
A jury found that Graham Morant, 69, counselled and aided his wife to take her life. He had denied both charges.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Australia: Man pleads not guilty to assisting his wife's suicide, as prosecutors claim he did so to access her life insurance

A 69-year-old man who has pleaded not guilty to assisting his wife to kill herself in 2014 had "1.4 million reasons" to intentionally help her end her life because she had three life insurance policies, a court has heard.
Graham Robert Morant is on trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on two counts, including one of counselling and one of aiding Jennifer Morant, 56, to kill herself.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Australia Defeats Euthanasia
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"[T]he title of their legislation gave the game away." |
In a narrow vote the Australian Senate today (Thursday) defeated by 36-34 a move to permit the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory to enact laws on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Most of the Australian media was campaigning for the pro-euthanasia move. A lot of work went on in the background with the group established by Paul Russell (Hope) encouraging a joint-Party meeting for Senators and staff to hear from two experienced Doctors from Victoria.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Victoria's Euthanasia Bill Is Not What it Was Promised to Be

Fabian Stahle has issued a thoughtful and detailed report regarding Oregon's six months of live criteria, which is determined in practice to include people with years to live, and not necessarily on a voluntary basis.
The material below is on page 4 of his report, regarding Victoria, which recently enacted a similar standard. I urge readers to also consider his entire report at this link.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Is Self-Administration Enforceable?
By Margaret Dore, Esq.
Victoria's deceptively named Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill uses the term, "self-administer," at least 30 times.[1] Indeed, self-administration of the lethal dose was a major selling point of the bill, to convince the public and Parliament that patients would be in control.
But, the term is not defined.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Wrap Up Australia: New South Wales and Victoria
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Rachel Carling-Jenkins, Victoria MP |
The vote in Victoria was disappointing, but featured a marathon debate in which MPs, such as Rachel Carling-Jenkins, focused on what the bill actually said and did, which is not what proponents claim.
The Victoria bill is expected to return to the Lower House to address amendments.
For more detail regarding Australia, click here.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Diane Coleman's Letter to Members of the Victoria Legislative Council Opposing Assisted Suicide
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Diane Coleman, JD |
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Australia: Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Defeated in New South Wales
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NSW Legislative Council |
The bill would have legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, on both a voluntary and non-voluntary basis, for dying and non-dying people. The vote 19 to 20.
To learn more about assisted suicide and euthanasia in Australia, click here.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Margaret Dore Analysis Opposing Victoria Euthanasia Bill
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Council Chamber |
I. INTRODUCTION
I am an attorney in Washington State USA where assisted suicide is legal.[1] I am also president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Last year, I met with a parliamentary delegation from the Legal and Social Issues Committee, Parliament of Victoria, to discuss Oregon’s law and related issues.
Washington’s law is based on Oregon’s law. Both laws are similar to the proposed bill, titled the “Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.” The bill, however, is not limited to voluntary deaths or to people near death. I urge you to reject this measure.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Worldwide Theater Protest: Melbourne Australia
http://thevine.com.au/entertainment/disability-activists-boycotting-hashtag-mebeforeeuthanasia/
While rom-com ‘Me Before You’ was only released in Australia today [06/15/16], it’s already receiving a growing amount of backlash. . . .
Activists . . . argue the film promotes the notion that disabled lives are considered less valuable and that the film romanticises death. . . .For more information about the worldwide theater protest, click here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
A Letter From Western Australia to Canadian MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette
I was pleased to see
you questioning the impact of legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia on
Canada's Indigenous people.
Canada's Indigenous people.
As Canada considers
legislation to change the law on murder and assisted suicide to allow certain
people to be killed with legal immunity it may be helpful to consider the fate
of the world's first modern euthanasia law.
In 1996 the Australian
Parliament overturned the Northern Territory's euthanasia law. This followed an
extensive Senate committee inquiry in which one of the key issues canvassed was
the deep opposition to the idea that a doctor could give a lethal injection from
the indigenous community and its leaders. Chapter 5 of the committee's report
detailed concerns that indigenous health, already seriously below par with that
of other Australians, would be further set back as indigenous people were afraid
and unwilling to go to a hospital where one of the "treatments" on offer was a
lethal jab.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Margaret Dore Speaking to Australian Delegation
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Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA, speaking to the Delegation |
The topic was assisted suicide and euthanasia. The place was the Picnic House Restaurant in Portland Oregon where Dore spoke over lunch in opposition to legalization. Despite the serious nature of the topic, a good time was had by all.
Dore's written materials can be viewed by clicking here and here.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Man convicted of murder "claimed his mother committed suicide"
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/man-convicted-of-murdering-his-mother/story-e6frg13u-1226522829658
A 27-YEAR-old Perth man has been found guilty of murdering his mother to steal her money and property.
Brent Donald Mack, 27, was on trial in the WA Supreme Court accused of murdering his mother, Ah Bee, between December 18 and 29 in 2008.
Ms Mack, 56, who also went by the name of Pauline, was last seen alive in September 2008, but her body has never been found.
In a police interview earlier this year, Mack claimed his mother committed suicide and had asked him not to tell anyone.
Justice John McKechnie, who presided the case without a jury, returned the guilty verdict today.
A psychiatric report and psychological report were ordered.
Mack will be sentenced on January 25.
A 27-YEAR-old Perth man has been found guilty of murdering his mother to steal her money and property.
Brent Donald Mack, 27, was on trial in the WA Supreme Court accused of murdering his mother, Ah Bee, between December 18 and 29 in 2008.
Ms Mack, 56, who also went by the name of Pauline, was last seen alive in September 2008, but her body has never been found.
In a police interview earlier this year, Mack claimed his mother committed suicide and had asked him not to tell anyone.
Justice John McKechnie, who presided the case without a jury, returned the guilty verdict today.
A psychiatric report and psychological report were ordered.
Mack will be sentenced on January 25.
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