Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the amendment from Senator Nampijinpa Price, and I accept that you have not taken this decision lightly. I think it's been a very respectful debate in this place, and I'm sure that that will continue as we reach the final stages of this bill.

Before I go to the amendment, I acknowledge in the chamber that we have in the gallery the Chief Minister of the ACT, Andrew Barr; Minister Tara Cheyne; and Marshall Perron, a former minister of the Northern Territory. Thank you for being here. You created history and in a sense set off the concertina of legislation that we are currently here trying to repeal this evening. I also acknowledge Andrew Denton and Dr Swan from Go Gentle who are here as well as some of the supporters of the reform and the repeal of this legislation and a friend of mine, Gina Pinkus, who has lobbied very strongly across the community for this legislation to be repealed.

I'll go to the amendment. I think the senator who moved them identified the issue that we are trying to deal with here, which is that this parliament should not be the place where we are looking for safeguards or putting in place restrictions on the job that we are wanting the territory legislatures to have the power to do. So I am speaking against the amendment, because the bill that is before us is a repeal of a law which prevents those legislatures from determining this matter for themselves. That is the soul, single and only purpose of the legislation before us—to get rid of the constraint on those parliaments from being able to debate that themselves.

I know and I accept that people feel very strongly about this and think the Commonwealth should have some control. I disagree with that, but also the way that this amendment is drafted is extremely broad. That we are trying to place restrictions, for example, on people with a disability, then that is a very broad definition. I think if this amendment was to pass it would render anything that the territory legislatures did ineffective. In a sense it is an anti-repeal amendment. I have no doubt it comes from a good place, but I am trying to explain to you that the bill that's before us tonight is about getting rid of constraints on the territory legislatures and leaving it to them to determine. When you look at the state jurisdictions that have put in voluntary assisted dying legislation, they have safeguards in place. They go through a process of consultation, they have ethics processes, they have oversight and they have safeguards, and it is appropriate that those legislatures do that job.

Our job here tonight is to get rid of the constraint that exists in only two jurisdictions, the ACT and the Northern Territory, whose citizens are currently now not afforded the same rights as citizens of every other jurisdiction, and their parliaments are constrained. They are democratically elected parliaments, they are mature parliaments, they are held accountable by their communities and they face elections. It is more than reasonable that these parliaments be allowed to do this for themselves. So, on the grounds that the amendment effectively tries to anti-repeal a repeal bill, I won't be supporting it. But, even on the way the amendment is drafted, if it got up it would mean that those parliaments would in effect not be able to put in place a voluntary assisted dying regime, which is up to them whether they do that. Our job is to get out of the way and let them have the same legislative responsibilities and powers as the parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.