David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of my party, the Greens, to indicate we will not be supporting this amendment. This amendment, if it were passed, would see the parliament restoring the rights of territorians with one hand and then taking them away with the other. That would be the effect of this amendment.

I do want to acknowledge the lived experience and the truth and the contribution of my colleague Senator Steele-John, and I want to associate myself unambiguously with the contribution that Senator Steele-John made to the chamber. I also want to acknowledge all of the advocates, all of those who have worked for more than two decades to hopefully get us to this point. We should be clear that if this chamber accepts this amendment it will be completely undermining the bill. This process and the decades of work will have failed. That would be the effect of accepting the amendments to this bill.

I note the work of Senator David Pocock and his office in obtaining the advice from Fiona McLeod SC. It's worthwhile reading onto the record what is perhaps the key paragraph from that advice, which is in relation to the definition of 'disability'. It says this: 'Finally, the incorporation of the definition of disability into the bill will render the bill ineffective. A person seeking access to assisted dying will inevitably fall within at least one of the limbs of the definition of disability. By way of illustration, if the amendments are adopted, a person diagnosed with an advanced incurable disease, expected to cause death within months and cause intolerable suffering, the eligibility criteria under Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 and New South Wales's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022, could not be the subject of a territory voluntary assisted dying law.' There you have it in black and white from a senior counsel. You can't on one hand say you support territories rights and on the other hand accept this amendment, because the amendment fundamentally, comprehensively undermines the bill.

I'll finish with this. This is not the right place to put these checks and balances in, in an amendment that was tabled only hours ago, without the consultation. It's not. I know that because in my time in the New South Wales state parliament I engaged in two separate attempts to put in place voluntary assisted dying. One was in 2013, which unfortunately didn't succeed. It took months and months of debate and consultation and detailed committee consideration with I think well over 100 submissions in that initial phase in 2013. It didn't succeed. Then again in the legislation that finally passed earlier this year. Again these considerations, detailed work with disability groups, the medical profession, the legal profession. That consultation will happen in the territories if we allow them to do it. That's where that consultation should happen. That's where amendments like this need to be considered. We should not kid ourselves: if the Senate accepts this amendment, they will have destroyed the utility of the bill and we will be back at first base.