Page 4604 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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euthanasia. Ms Cheyne may shake her head, but it is the truth. For some people it is a proxy issue. Ms Cheyne cannot possibly deny that many people in the community have that view. I accept she does not have that view and I accept that many people in the community do not have that view, but others do.
We have to approach this issue with the same respect and reverence that we would approach the issue of euthanasia in this Assembly and recognise that for some people their conscience is very much engaged. Whilst some people may try to portray this as a black and white issue it is not, necessarily, for everyone. We have to respect those who are passionate about self-government, autonomy and the linked issue of euthanasia. For many life is paramount and will trump any philosophical view about self-determination for the ACT.
I am open to considering such a letter as proposed in paragraph (5)(b). It will, of course, very much depend on what is included in that letter and whether it will be a political statement or whether it will be something far more meaningful. But I hope that everybody who engages in this debate both in this place and elsewhere is given the respect they deserve.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (10.53): I thank Ms Cheyne for bringing this important motion before the Assembly. As we have heard, and as we all know, for too long Australians living in our nation’s territories have been unable to enjoy the same rights as those who live in the six states. This is unfair and it is unreasonable. Australians should not be treated differently because they do not live in a state; they should not be treated differently because of their postcode.
Ostensibly, we have a representative democracy at the territory government level. But, of course, territory independence comes with a constant threat that the commonwealth may overrule and intervene in a decision of territory parliaments. History has certainly shown that they will do that. In 1995 the Northern Territory passed the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, which established a framework for a person with a life-limiting illness to request assistance from a medically qualified person to voluntarily and humanely end his or her life.
The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act was at that time a historic reform, reflecting the views and convictions of the majority of elected representatives of the people of the Northern Territory. It was an expression of their views through their legislature. In response, the commonwealth parliament passed the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, which effectively nullified the Northern Territory’s legislation and overruled the territory’s democratic processes.
As Victoria’s recent experience with the successful passage of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 demonstrates, if Australia’s territories had the same rights as Australia’s states, the commonwealth would not have been able to overturn the Northern Territory law.
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