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Colleen Hartland.
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A controversial push to give terminally illpeople the right to
die with the help of a doctorwill be reignited in State Parliament
this week,potentially paving the way for future changesto the
law.
Seven years after a bill for voluntaryeuthanasia was voted down
at Spring Streetfollowing months of fiery debate, the Greenshave
sought to put the issue back on theagenda in the hope there will
now be enoughbipartisan support for a legislative shift.
An upper-house motion to be debated onWednesday calls for
Attorney-General MartinPakula to refer the matter to the Victorian
LawReform Commission. As a first step, thecommission would conduct
an inquiry,canvass public views, and report back toparliament with
a range of options byDecember.
"People have a right to choose when and howthey end their
lives," said Greens MP Colleen Hartland, who drafted the motion.
"In the last 20years, I've seen far too many friends and family
members die in the most hideous ways, andthey should have had a
choice about how they died."
Dying with dignity and the question of whether voluntary
euthanasia or assisted suicide shouldbe permitted by law has always
been a contentious subject.
Weeks before the state election, Daniel Andrews told The Sunday
Age he believed people oughtto have a greater say in how they die
by having more power to tell their doctors not to give
themlife-prolonging treatment for future illnesses.
If elected, he said, Labor would give people clearer rights to
set directives about the kind ofmedical care they would want in the
event of future conditions such as cancer, brain damage
ordementia.
Mr Andrews' position, however, did not extend to voluntary
euthanasia an emotional issue thatwas thrashed out in Parliament in
2008 when Ms Hartland and former Liberal MP Ken Smith co-sponsored
a private members' bill that was ultimately defeated in the upper
house, 25 votes to13.
However, the dynamic in the new upperhouse where five Greens and
fivecrossbenchers share the balance of power
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is vastly different. The government's upperhouse leader Gavin
Jennings also voted infavour of the Greens' bill in 2008, while
theCoalition is expected to consider allowing aconscience vote,
which would give MPs theability to decide on the issue based on
theirown personal beliefs rather than along partylines.
"Just as in the community, this is an issuethat Liberal and
Nationals members have abroad range of views about. The Coalition
willhave further discussions about our approachto the motion in the
coming days," said upperhouse Liberal leader Mary Wooldridge.
Voluntary euthanasia returned to the public spotlight in recent
months, with a Senate Committeecalling for a conscience vote on the
matter, and the Australian Medical Board suspending theregistration
of euthanasia activist Dr Philip Nitschke. The Victorian Greens'
motion asks theAttorney General to refer the issue to the Law
Reform Commission because parliament itselfcan not do so.
Asked if the government would support the motion, Mr Andrews'
spokeswoman Lisa Tuckersaid: "The government will conclude its
position on the motion before the upper house onTuesday."
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