KEY POINTS:
Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin has been barred from holding a public meeting at the University of Otago this month.
She said the decision of Mike Harte, director of information technology services at the university, endorsed by the vice-chancellor, Professor David Skegg, showed euthanasia did not "sit comfortably with them".
Ms Martin was convicted in 2004 of attempting to murder her terminally ill mother with an overdose of morphine.
She spent 7 months in jail and was this week struck off the nursing register because of that conviction.
Dignity New Zealand Trust, established in 2005 by Ms Martin to promote voluntary euthanasia, booked the university's St David seminar room a week ago and had begun advertising.
A similar meeting was held at the university in November 2005 and no problems were encountered then, Ms Martin said.
However, Mr Harte, who is responsible for the running and management of the university's lecture theatres, told Ms Martin this week the booking had been rejected by the university.
"He said that the issue didn't sit comfortably with them and they reserved the right to not have people there they didn't want."
"To have a knock-back from an academic body, to us, flies in the face of what the university is all about," she said.
Professor Skegg said yesterday Ms Martin was "a well-known advocate of euthanasia" which was contrary to the ethical standards of health professionals in New Zealand.
"The University of Otago encourages academic debate on ethical matters such as euthanasia, but it is not obliged to provide a base for advocacy groups wishing to promote behaviour that is illegal in this country."
Ms Martin said the Dunedin meeting would now be held at Cargills Hotel on March 8.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
