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ACT Right to Life AssociationN E W S L E T T E R |
Andrews Bill passes in
Senate!
Just after 1am on Tuesday, 25 March 1997, the Australian Senate took the final, third reading vote on Kevin Andrews MP's Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996, passing the Bill by 38 votes to 33. The now Euthanasia Laws Act was given Royal assent from the Governor General on Thursday, 27 March, thereby overturning the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act and preventing Australian Territories from making laws on euthanasia.
The Euthanasia Laws Bill was passed earlier by the House of Representatives on the evening of 9 December 1996.
The overturning of the Northern Territory's euthanasia law has brought Australia back from the brink of a long tumble into the regular use of euthanasia - initially for terminally ill people - but later foreseeably for all sorts of consenting and non-consenting people.
The Euthanasia Laws Act has an important practical effect on the Australian Capital Territory - it means that independent MLA Michael Moore's latest euthanasia bill, the Medical Treatment (Amendment) Bill 1997, cannot be passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly.
In arguing the case for the Territories' ability to make laws on euthanasia to be overridden, president of the ACT Right to Life Association, Nicola Pantos, pointed out that the safety of the Australian population was more important than the concern of Territories to be free of Commonwealth interference.
This was especially so given the Commonwealth's power to overrule the Territories is clearly set out in the Constitution and the self government acts.
"This was not the result of secret deals, or of senators somehow having the wool pulled over their eyes. The Senate debate demonstrates the Bill was passed because the senators responded to clear and reasoned arguments against euthanasia put to them by thousands of people across Australia", said Ms Pantos.
Ms Pantos paid tribute to the many ACTRTLA members and others throughout Australia who had written to Senators to argue for the Andrews Bill to be passed. "Without these people putting in the extra effort, the Bill may never have been passed."
Independent MLA Michael Moore's euthanasia bill, the Medical Treatment (Amendment) Bill 1996, was debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, 26 February 1997.
Fifteen of the seventeen MLAs spoke in the debate. The two MLAs who did not speak were Assembly Speaker Greg Cornwell and Michael Moore. New Liberal MLA Louise Littlewood only spoke briefly.
Ms Littlewood asked that the debate be adjourned because she had only been a member of the Assembly for a short time and she wished to consider the Bill in more detail. The Assembly agreed to her request and the debate was adjourned. However, before the next Assembly day for private members business on 9 April, Kevin Andrews' Euthanasia Laws Bill was passed in the Federal Parliament, taking away Territory powers to make laws in this area.
Until the Andrews Bill was passed, it appeared that the Moore euthanasia bill had a chance of being approved by the Assembly.
When ACT Government Minister Tony De Domenico decided to resign from the Assembly to take up a job in the private sector, there was only a margin of one vote against euthanasia in the Assembly. Mr De Domenico was one of those votes opposing euthanasia, and his replacement's stance on this issue therefore became crucial.
After a count-back of votes from the last ACT Assembly elections, it was determined that Ms Louise Littlewood was the new member for the multi-seat electorate of Brindabella.
ACTRTLA president Nicola Pantos and vice president Jeremy Stuparich met with Ms Littlewood on Monday, 17 February, just the week after she had commenced her new job. At the meeting Ms Littlewood acknowledged many of the dangers of euthanasia and commented that, although she agreed with voluntary euthanasia in principle, she would not support a bill which was not safe for the community.
It was therefore very disappointing that Ms Littlewood did not decide to vote against Mr Moore's euthanasia bill on 26 February.
The members' voting intentions, declared in the Assembly debate, were, for the euthanasia bill: Wayne Berry, Simon Corbell, Lucy Horodny, Roberta McRae, Marion Reilly, Kerrie Tucker, Andrew Whitecross. Michael Moore proposed the bill.
Those against the euthanasia bill were: Kate Carnell, Harold Hird, Gary Humphries, Trevor Kaine, Paul Osborne, Bill Stefaniak, Bill Wood. It is likely that Greg Cornwell would also have declared his opposition to euthanasia.
President of ACTRTLA, Nicola Pantos, and vice president Jeremy Stuparich were given a last minute hearing by Senator Margaret Reid at lunch time on Monday, 25 March - the day the Euthanasia Laws Bill was voted on. An attempt some weeks earlier to arrange an appointment with Senator Reid had not been successful.
No sooner had Ms Pantos and Mr Stuparich met the Senator than she informed them that she would not be voting for the Andrews Bill. It seems that Senator Reid is more concerned about Territories being discriminated against than the concerns she admitted she had about euthanasia. This stance is very disappointing given the Association's support for Senator Reid at past elections after she had declared her opposition to euthanasia.
ACTRTLA councillors Bev Cains, Kath Woolf and Jeremy Stuparich attended a public meeting organised by the ACT Greens on the evening of 6 February at Gorman House, which featured speakers Dr Philip Nitschke, Senator Bob Brown and Michael Moore MLA. Dr Nitschke is the doctor who has been involved in all the publicly known Northern Territory euthanasia deaths.
The meeting was disturbing, especially given the interest members of the audience and Dr Nitschke expressed in expanding the euthanasia boundaries from being confined to people with a terminal illness. Even Michael Moore looked uncomfortable at the readiness with which many in the audience embraced this suggestion.
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