Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, through you, Madam Acting Deputy President, I would like to convey my appreciation to Senator Hume for demonstrating her courage, for sharing her grief and her loss, and for being so open with her feelings and what moved her. I also want to commend Senator Alex Antic for his statements a few speakers ago. I will be following in his footsteps.

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I note that the name of the Restoring Territory Rights Bill 2022 is deceptive and misleading. In reality it's a backdoor attempt to introduce legalised euthanasia into territory law. This is what occurred with the ill fated Rights of The Terminally Ill Act 1995 that the Northern Territory parliament passed. Two years later, in 1997, Kevin Andrews sponsored Commonwealth legislation, the Euthanasia Laws Act, which reversed the Territory's act. The Northern Territory's act was responsible for the killing of four people. Several others, who had not even satisfied the criteria of the act, were still approved for death using lethal injection.

The Constitution intended that territories do not have the same legislative power of a state, and that remains the case. The Commonwealth parliament may pass legislation on a territory issue, including invalidating a territory law. This is constitutionally correct and it is exactly what happened previously. If the territories wish to exercise the same powers as a state, then the territories need to go through the process of becoming a state. This requires a referendum of territory voters. The last time such a referendum was held, Northern Territory voters rejected the move. They rejected statehood and all the responsibilities that come with it. I am in favour of states' rights, and I've spoken very much about that in this chamber. I'm in favour of states' rights and minimal central or federal government. I will not, though, use that deceptively to get around the fundamental primacy of human life.

I reject this bill before the Senate today because it devalues the lives of those whose needs are not being met, through the failure of government to put in place appropriate palliative care resources. Such resources are conspicuously absent in the Northern Territory now and were absent during the 1995-96 period. That is inhuman. That is the real issue that needs to be addressed. Labor and Liberal-National governments all too often contravene our precious federal Constitution, the governing document of our land, the highest law. I oppose violating the intent of our Constitution yet again. We need to always uphold our Constitution.

After listening to Senator Alex Antic, I commend him and endorse his comments. I agree with Senator Antic that this bill's message is simply that some lives are not worth living. This draws a terrible line that can be shifted in the future. Gradualism is a recognised tactic of those who push antihuman and transhuman policies, such as the senior levels of the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, which are openly pushing such transhuman, inhuman and antihuman policies. It's widely used, gradualism. Government has three roles: protect life, protect property and protect freedom. The first is to protect life. I support the primacy of human life and I oppose this bill.