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Two short films with information about how to commit suicide unable to be shown publicly in Australia may be screened in New Zealand.
Euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke said he had been warned by Australian authorities not to screen the two short films, The Single Shot and Doing it with Betty, but he believed he could show them in New Zealand.
Nitschke wants to air the films at meetings of his group Exit International, a lobby group for voluntary euthanasia.
He said he was threatened with a A$26,000 fine and a possible jail term if he showed them in Australia because the films had not been classified.
Nitschke said he had not sought classification because it was costly and could be overturned by the federal government.
The two films are available online and in libraries and Nitschke said common sense dictated that they should be allowed to be shown publicly.
"It seems ludicrous to try and argue that a thing can't be shown to a gathering of one's members which could be viewed by any one of them in their own home.
"In general the reaction in New Zealand to many of these issues has been in some ways more enlightened that what we have seen in the last 10 years from our previous federal government," Nitschke said.
But a spokesman for New Zealand's chief censor Bill Hastings said Nitschke could run foul of New Zealand laws if he tried to screen the films before they were classified in the country.
"The only exceptions to that are if you were to bring in a film and show it to your friends, you don't need to get that classified. But if you want to show it to the public he would have to get them classified," the spokesman said.
"There are a narrow band of exemptions for films shown to the public, which include documentaries and natural history films.
"But if they have material in them which give them an age restriction or mean they would be banned you can't claim that exemption ... I guess his book was banned, and that could be an indicator of that," he said.
He said a failure to abide by New Zealand's classification laws could lead to a fine of up to $3000 for individuals or $10,000 for an organisation.
The Single Shot shows a group of elderly people making materials for a so-called peaceful pill, designed to end lives, while in Doing it with Betty an elderly woman teaches people how to use an oven bag to end their lives.
Nitschke is due to arrive in New Zealand on Thursday and will hold public meetings in various parts of the country until February 9.
- AAP
