Dr. Cameron McLaren:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it. I hope we have been helpful on some issues. I will pick up on a few points. First, as regards the New South Wales budget, I heard the same and had the same reaction. I do not know if it is a direct transfer. It is appalling if it is, and I would advocate strongly for the increase, not the decrease, of palliative care funding, unless it is voluntary assisted dying and can work together with palliative care. It is also important to recognise that the same paper was published in 2019. That was before there was any involvement in voluntary assisted dying in Australia, so that does not reflect the Australian experience.

As regards the point about being a burden, I will offer my reflection on patients' reports of that. I have experienced that there is a large difference between a patient saying he or she feels like a burden and a patient feeling as though his or her wife or husband thinks he or she is a burden. That should be treated, recorded and responded to very differently because a feeling that someone else thinks one is a burden means we need to focus on carer support. We should not, however, invalidate the experience of the individual who is not comfortable with having his or her personal care needs met by another individual. I would not be comfortable with that and I would not have someone challenge me on that.