Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015. In 1995 the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly enacted this legislation. It passed a law which reflected not only the will of Northern Territorians but also the strongly-held views of the majority of all Australians. It was the first time anywhere in the world that a legislature had authorised voluntary assisted dying. This was compassionate, groundbreaking policy. The Howard government decided to use its constitutional power to run over the Northern Territory assembly's right to make laws affecting Territorians. The Greens rejected that at the time, and we reject the idea that the Commonwealth can use its own constitutional power to change the laws that the federal government of the day disagrees with. It is on that basis that we believe this bill has merit.

This bill is about compassion and the right to end-of-life choices. This bill is about support for the rights of the terminally ill to choose the manner and timing of their death. Let us be clear: we are talking about terminally ill individuals who are experiencing unbearable suffering from an incurable illness. We are talking about adult individuals who wish to receive medical assistance to end their life peacefully at a time of their choosing. There are already so many countries around the world which take a compassionate approach—Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Canada and parts of the USA, just to name a few. In 1995, Territorians voted to take the compassionate approach. It's time they were afforded the self-determination to do that.

Time and time again, we hear of opinion polls which demonstrate that the majority of Australians support voluntary assisted dying. In November last year, Roy Morgan found that 87 per cent of Australians support voluntary assisted dying. This support from voluntary assisted dying cuts across party lines. It cuts across gender and across age.

While the debate has been used by some politicians to divide us, it is quite clear that this is not a divisive issue. Australians support a compassionate approach to end-of-life choices. Having said that, I'm also a strong advocate for palliative care. Any debate around voluntary assisted dying must also acknowledge that, in conjunction with compassion and a compassionate approach to end-of-life choices, we also need a well-resourced palliative care system. We need to ensure that the palliative system is adequately funded, and that it stays that way. But even with the most well-funded palliative care system, Palliative Care Australia has acknowledged that it cannot relieve all pain and suffering, even with optimal care. This is why we need both: a strong palliative care system that delivers services across Australia and regional and rural communities, and access to robust, voluntary assisted dying measures for the terminally ill.

In 1997, Kevin Andrews succeeded in pushing a private member's bill through the parliament. It overturned the first legislation permitting assisted suicide in Australia, enacted in the Northern Territory. Since this time, my Greens colleagues in many states and territories and in this place have been working tirelessly on this issue, as have hundreds of enormously committed volunteers and workers in organisations right across the country. In my home state of Western Australia, the parliament established a joint select committee of the legislative assembly and legislative council to inquire into and report on laws in Western Australia to allow citizens to make informed decisions regarding their own end-of-life choices. I believe that Territorians should have the same right, and I look forward to restoring the rights of the territories. We support this bill.