National MP Maggie Barry is being accused of "hijacking" a mental health advocate's select committee submission by asking a "gobsmackingly inappropriate" question.
Barry is a member of the Health Select Committee, which on Wednesday heard from Lucy McSweeney, a mental health advocate calling for mental health to be included in the school curriculum.
MPs on the committee put questions to McSweeney related to her submission, and then Barry asked her views on the End of Life Choice Bill - legislation that would legalise assisted dying in some circumstances.
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ACT leader David Seymour, who is leading the change on euthanasia legalisation, said for Barry to try to "highjack a young person's advocacy of a mental health initiative" for an "unrelated political end" is "despicable".
Seymour said he was surprised that Barry would "blindside" McSweeney with a question on euthanasia when an investigation by the Health Select Committee found there was no connection between youth suicide and assisted dying.
The committee sought advice in 2016 from the Ministry of Health about claims that suicide rates were higher in jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal, and no connection was found.
"Please don't politicise me; please don't use me for your political gains," McSweeney told Barry during the select committee. "I really valued up until that point how non-political everyone's being."
Barry has strongly opposed the End of Life Choice Bill. She was one of 10 National MPs who prepared more than 120 amendments to it, and denied they were trying to filibuster and stall it from passing.
Seymour said McSweeney has "run a really effective campaign promoting mental health education in schools and I've been proud to support her as her local MP".
Labour MP Ruth Dyson, a member of the Health Select Committee, agreed that Barry's question to McSweeney was out of line.
She said it took bravery for the petitioner to talk about her own mental health issues in a public session, and described Barry's question as "gobsmackingly inappropriate".
Dyson said it was the "least appropriate comment possible, given all the circumstances".
"It's very hard to figure out why you'd do that in an unrelated discussion about how we can improve mental health for young people through the education system.
"If it was to try and score a political point, you don't use submitters for that and you certainly don't use young people who have just shared their mental un-wellness with you."
McSweeney told Newshub she "wasn't fazed" by Barry's question.
"I was in Wellington to talk about the urgency of educating young people about mental health, and it was great that the committee was supportive and keen to advocate for more action.
"Maggie Barry's question wasn't really relevant to mental health education in schools, and I am keen to focus on the important issue at hand and continue to make progress."
The End of Life Choice Bill passed its second reading in June with 70 votes in favour and 50 against. It will have its third reading in November.
Maggie Barry could not be reached for comment.
Newshub.
