Politics

‘It makes no sense’: Senate knocks down bill on voluntary assisted dying

Aug 16, 2018

The bill was defeated by 36 votes to 34. Source: Getty.

A private member’s bill which, if passed, would have allowed the Northern Territory and ACT to consider their own legislation on voluntary assisted dying has been defeated in the Senate.

Following two days of discussion in the upper house, Senator David Leyonhjelm’s Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015 was knocked down by 36 votes against to 34 in favour.

Senator Leyonhjelm, who first introduced the bill in 2015, said he was disappointed at the bill’s defeat, but vowed to continue fighting for “the rights of all Australians to decide how and when to end their lives”.

Speaking after the vote, he said: “All Australians, no matter where they live, have the right to decide for themselves when it comes to end of life treatment.

“It makes no sense that people living in the state of Victoria now have some control over the manner in which they chose to die in the face of intolerable suffering, yet other Australians are denied even having the chance to vote on such a critical issue.”

If passed, the bill would have seen the reversal of a 1997 Federal law which took away the rights of the NT and ACT to introduce their own legislation surrounding the controversial matter of voluntary assisted dying, after the NT briefly legalised euthanasia in 1995.

During a speech in the Senate in December 2015, Leyonhjelm said: “Legalisation of assisted suicide is long overdue in Australia. Opinion polls show more than 80 per cent of Australians are in favour, across all political parties.”

Unfortunately the #RestoreTerrityRights debated was settled in the negative with 34 YES votes and 36 NO votes. #AssistedDying legislation will not be on the cards for the NT & ACT.

— Go Gentle Australia (@gogentle_aus) August 15, 2018

Go Gentle CEO Kiki Paul spoke to Starts at 60 ahead of the historic Senate debate. She said: “It’s clearly something that the whole of Australia is keen to have – or to at least have a discussion about it. Why is it that we can do that in all states, but territories are lesser citizens? Is that how it is?

“This is about putting in place legislation allowing representatives to have a discussion and make up their own minds based on what their constituents feel.”

The topic is one that many Starts at 60 readers also have strong feelings about. Earlier this week, one reader told us: “I want the right to end my life if it becomes unbearable. I watched my mother’s journey and know palliative care and pain relief don’t solve all the problems or even work and they aren’t available to all. To me it’s simple, if you personally don’t believe in it put that in your plan, tell your relatives but let me make my own choice.”

However another argued: “It is legalising murder. I have seen the final days and months of my mother and my sister, and my brother-in-law is on his final journey, but his heart is strong and his mind is sharp and he does not ask for death to come quickly.

“Human nature will never leave well enough alone. For centuries families have cared for their old and infirm, they may have assisted some to pass, but mostly they cared and comforted. It is part of the journey we all have to go through.”

Currently, Victoria is the area in Australia to have passed voluntary assisted dying laws with the legislation set to come into effect in 2019. It will offer a choice to competent adults with a terminal illness and six months or less to live. For those dying of neurodegenerative diseases, such as MND or MS, the time frame is extended to twelve months or less to live.

There are strict eligibility criteria that a patient must also meet, which include being over 18 years of age, having decisional capacity and they must raise the issue with a doctor themselves. Three formal requests must also be made, the second in writing, with the minimum timeframe between first request and opportunity to take the medication being ten days.