A majority of Tasmanian MPs have voted in favour of laws that would legalise euthanasia in some situations.
MPs in the Lower House voted 17-7 in favour of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill after the second-reading debate on Friday.
The bill will now need to go through an amendment process, and a final vote is expected in March 2021. The bill will not come into effect until 2022.
A panel of University of Tasmania experts will also review the bill before the final vote.
The legislation will allow people who are suffering from advanced, incurable and irreversible conditions to end their lives in situations where the conditions would be expected to kill them within six months.
Labor and the Greens voted unanimously in support of the bill, and Liberal MPs were allowed a conscience vote.
If the bill passes in March 2021, Tasmania will become the third state to allow voluntary assisted dying, after Victoria and Western Australia.
Tasmania’s Minister for Health Sarah Courtney voted in favour of the bill, and said today’s vote represents an historic moment for the state.
“Tasmanians who are experiencing intolerable suffering due to an advanced, incurable and irreversible medical condition that is expected to cause death, should be empowered to make an informed choice about their end of life, while ensuring rigorous safeguards are in place to protect the vulnerable in our community,” she said.
Premier Peter Gutwein, deputy premier Jeremy Rockcliff and Minister for Human Services Roger Jaensch were also among those who voted in favour of the bill.
Jacqui and Natalie Gray have campaigned for the End of Life Choices Bill, after losing their mother Diane to cancer in September 2019.
“(We feel) incredibly moved, emotional and so, so proud,” Jacqui Gray said.
“We’d already done the numbers, we’d met with a number of the Members of Parliament and had an indication as to how the vote would go today, and it’s very encouraging to see that it went in favour, supporting the bill to committee.”
Both sisters attended all the debates in the Lower and Upper Houses.
“We’re representing the majority of Tasmanians who desperately want this voluntary assisted dying law legalised in Tasmania, to ensure that Tasmanians have the right to a compassionate end of life choice.”
Independent Member of the Legislative Council Mike Gaffney authored the End of Life Choices Bill, and said it had been an incredible journey. He tabled the bill in the Upper House in August.
“(I feel) relieved in one sense,” he said.
“(I’m still recognising) that there is another step to go, but it’s a nice way to finish the year. I think it was a very good debate over the last two days.”
Ben Smith is the spokeperson for Live and Die Well Tasmania, an organisation that has been campaigning against the bill.
Spokesperson for Live and Die Well Tasmania, Ben Smith.
SBS News: Sarah Maunder
“I guess I am disappointed in some respects,” he said.
“But I am very happy that seven people voted against the bill, and the messages that they gave, in terms of protection of the vulnerable, which I think is a very important part of this debate.
“I’m looking forward to the next part of how this debate progresses, in terms of the UTAS report. Because this will be first time that the bill will be properly put under the microscope, and I think it’s very important for the whole of Tasmania that proper scrutiny is made of this bill.”
