“Since the introduction in 1993 of the first voluntary euthanasia legislation, all states have adopted similar legislation. It’s only the territories, who were first to embark on such legislation, that have been excluded,” writes MICHAEL MOORE.

THE federal government has finally voted to put the territories on a similar footing to the states. 

The restoration of our rights after more than a quarter of a century provides lessons for democracy, opens opportunities and consolidates the status of the legislative assemblies of the ACT  and the NT. 

The most important lesson for Australian democracies is to properly separate the powers of church and state. Members of parliament have their own views that are often informed by their commitment to religion. However, voters should have the opportunity to be aware of these and to cast their ballot accordingly. 

The 1997 Euthanasia Laws Act, that deprived the territory of certain rights was a “conscience vote”, driven by religious commitment. The numbers amongst the coalition parties were secured by Kevin Andrews while Tony Burke was the prime lobbyist amongst Labor members of parliament. Both were largely driven by their Roman Catholic ideology – although Tony Burke denies this.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also a Catholic. However, he is not an ultra-conservative Catholic of the style that has dominated both the right of the Labor Party and the more conservative elements of the Coalition. 

The prime minister and other less-conservative Catholics in the parliament, who support the restoration of territory rights, are more aligned with Father Frank Brennan, a Jesuit priest and former professor of law at the Australian Catholic University. 

Brennan, although opposed to voluntary assisted dying, argued to a parliamentary committee that the laws should be consistent between the states and territories.

Ironically, Burke has the responsibility as a senior minister for shepherding this repeal legislation through the parliament. As David Hardaker wrote in “Crikey”, it was Burke who led the 1997 Euthanasia NO campaign bringing “together a powerful network of Catholic politicians and wealthy business people”. 

His campaign was described in “The Australian” by Michael Gordon as “a case study in the art of persuasion, with subtlety rather than intimidation or coercion being the secret of its success”.

Previous attempts to repeal the legislation, driven by then-Greens leader Bob Brown had never been brought on for debate. Only one of three attempted Bills were referred to committee. 

The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs “ultimately elected not to form a majority view”. Although not able to come to an agreed decision, the chair and two other senators recommended the 2008 Bill proceed subject to some amendments. This did not happen.

The irony is that since the introduction in 1993 of the first legislation in Australia permitting voluntary active euthanasia under very restricted circumstances, all states have adopted similar legislation. It is only the territories, who were the first to embark on such legislation, that have been excluded.

The moral compass of the federal senators and the MPs has simply been out of step with the rest of the country. 

Under the Morrison government, as the last election demonstrated, a majority of these people were considerably out of step on a number of issues. In the ACT, the demise of Senator Zed Seselja and the election of independent Senator David Pocock reinforced the extent of dissatisfaction of Canberrans with ultra-conservative approaches.

Since 1978 in the NT and 1989 in the ACT, constituents have had a democratic say over the way they are governed. Interference in these rights by the federal parliament cast the people of these jurisdictions as second-class citizens. 

It is only now, thanks to Senator David Pocock raising the importance of this issue during the recent election campaign, and the legislation introduced by member for Canberra Alicia Payne and member for Solomon in the NT Luke Gosling, that people of both territories will have their rights reinstated.

The passage of this legislation now opens opportunities for backbench members of the Legislative Assembly. The Canberra Liberals in the Assembly have unanimously supported the passage of the Bill in the federal parliament to restore territory rights. 

However, it is hard to foresee any of the Liberal MLAs introducing voluntary assisted dying legislation into the assembly.

Backbenchers in the Greens or Labor Party could well increase their profile by reintroducing legislation that was an Australian first when originally tabled in the Assembly (by me) in 1993.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.