Voluntary assisted dying laws: New legislation passed after Gold Coast MPs support Labor in State Parliament
Six Gold Coast MPs have supported Labor’s voluntary assisted assisted dying laws, after surveying revealed more than 90 per cent of residents in their electorate backed the legislation.
Gold Coast
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6PM UPDATE:
THE Queensland government has officially voted to legalise voluntary assisted dying.
The VAD bill was approved on its third and final reading in Parliament just before 6pm on Thursday night.
It was approved 61-30.
MPs were given a ‘conscience’ vote meaning they were not constrained by party policy.
Of the 11 Gold Coast MPs, only Broadwater MP and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates and Currumbin MP Laura Gerber voted against the bill in the final vote.
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek was absent, having travelled interstate for his father’s funeral.
EARLIER:
SIX Gold Coast MPs have supported Labor’s voluntary assisted assisted dying laws, after surveying revealed more than 90 per cent of residents in their electorate backed the legislation.
The “conscience” vote in State Parliament taken just after midday on Thursday was 61-30 in favour of the laws.
Supporting the legislation were Bonney MP Sam O’Connor, Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens, Coomera MP Michael Crandon, Burleigh MP Michael Hart, Southport MP Rob Molhoek and Theodore MP Mark Boothman.
Surfers Paradise LNP John-Paul Langbroek was absent from the Parliament. Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates, Currumbin MP Laura Gerber and Broadwater MP David Crisafulli, the Opposition leader, voted against Labor’s Bill.
The Bulletin can reveal surveying by Mr O’Connor in Bonney found almost 92 per cent of 1500 residents who responded believed voluntary assisted dying should be legalised.
Almost 56 per cent of residents agreed that a terminal diagnosis of 12 months or less to live was the right time frame.
Outside Parliament, Mr O’Connor said he was proud to vote for what the “overwhelming majority” of his electorate wanted.
“I believe in the right of the individual to make their own decisions and after considering these laws for months, no one has convinced me against giving that choice,” he said.
“While the concerns around palliative care are valid, are we really expecting the opponents of voluntary assisted dying to change their mind even if palliative care is funded to their desired level.
“We can do more than one thing at a time. We can support the introduction of these laws whilst also calling for more funding for palliative care.
“The truth is that, regardless of how well it is funded, palliative care or in fact any pain management will never bring an end to all suffering.”
Mr Stevens told the Bulletin: “I voted to represent the large majority of my constituents and most importantly my branch LNP members which I canvassed extensively.
“I have concerns that I hoped would be addressed by the amendments proposed by the Premier but in the end they didn’t eventuate.”
Mr Boothman had also hoped the LNP’s amendments would be supported.
“I voted yes but I want some of the amendments to pass. All involved should have a choice,” he said.
Mr Molhoek, who has previously spoken out about his own experiences with VAD, said he was “disappointed” with Labor for the lack of changes made to the bill.
“At the very least (the VAD Board) should follow the example of Victoria, report twice a year, report on access to palliative care by patients making end of life choices and directly to the parliament,” he said.
“Furthermore I believe the principal of ‘freedom of choice’ should apply universally. By all means people should have freedom of choice in respect to ‘end of life’, but so to should all health carers and health care entities have that freedom of choice.
“I’m also concerned that many Queenslanders will be disappointed that the legislation doesn’t provide more broadly in respect of some ‘end of life’ choices via advance health directives.”
Under the bill the independent VAD Board would only have to report annually to the State Government.
The laws mean people diagnosed with a terminal illness will be able to access medical assistance to end their own lives.
It also gives legal protection for doctors who choose to assist — and choose not to assist — them with the process.
Eligible Queenslanders would be able to access VAD from January 2023.
EARLIER:
SEVERAL Gold Coast MPs have, in a stunning result, supported Labor’s voluntary assisted assisted dying laws.
LNP leader David Crisafulli had supported his MPs exercising a conscience vote on the emotional issue.
The vote in State Parliament taken just after midday on Thursday was 61-30 in favour of the laws.
Hansard notes on the votes obtained by the Bulletin show Coast MPs to vote with the government were Bonney MP Sam O’Connor, Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens, Coomera MP Michael Crandon, Burleigh MP Michael Hart, Southport MP Rob Molhoek and Theodore MP Mark Boothman.
Only four other LNP MPs across the State took the same stand, among them former leader Tim Nicholls. Surveying on the Coast showed more than 80 per cent support in all electorates for the Bill.
Official papers show Surfers Paradise LNP MP John-Paul Langbroek was not in the House for the vote.
He is understood to be in quarantine after being interstate to attend his father’s funeral.
The Opposition has sought amendments to Labor’s Bill. Those Coast MPs supporting the added changes were Ros Bates, Laura Gerber and Mr Crisafulli.
Mr Boothman told the Bulletin: “I voted yes but I want some of the amendments to pass. All involved should have a choice.”
EARLIER:
A FORMER LNP Minister has accused Opposition leader David Crisafulli and several of his Gold Coast MPs of being cowards for not supporting the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws.
Jann Stuckey told the Bulletin the party’s leadership was not being honest by putting up amendments to the legislation, and had used the same political tactics when Labor moved legislation to legalise abortion in 2018.
A senior Labor source agreed, saying “the Christian lobby has used its numbers in the LNP”.
Ms Stuckey, a long-serving Currumbin MP and former Tourism Minister, resigned from the party after supporting Labor in the conscience vote on abortion.
“I am deeply disappointed but not surprised David will vote no and ignore the wishes of the vast majority of his electorate,” she said.
“When I read David Janetzki will move a heap of amendments which no-one has seen previously, I knew Crisafulli would vote no to support his deeply religious deputy.
“This is how they reacted to other bills on social matters when they could no longer kick the issues into the long grass. It’s cowardly and gives them an out – ‘if Labor won’t support our amendments, we can’t or won’t support the Bill’.
“There would at least be some honesty if they just admitted they don’t support VAD instead of scrambling for excuses they know will be knocked back.”
Mr Crisafulli said he could not support “flawed legislation”, asking why people would be able to access VAD before they qualified for palliative care.
The Labor source suggested “David Crisafulli is proving himself to be a party man”.
“Despite his Coast electorate strongly voicing its support of VAD, he has essentially provided his leadership means more to him than his electorate,” the Labor source said.
More than 80 per cent of Gold Coasters supported the laws, including churchgoers and LNP voters, according to data released by advocacy group Dying With Dignity Queensland this week.
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens branded the laws “the State Approval for Suicide Bill”.
“That is the reality that we are determining in the House this week. The Bill would not be in the House unless the Palaszczuk Labor government were absolutely confident that the Bill was going to pass,” he said.
Bonney MP Sam O’Connor said the vast majority of residents in his electorate supported the Bill and he believed the “protections against coercion” were adequate.
“I have faith in our doctors to perform the required assessments thoroughly,” he told Parliament.
Burleigh MP Michael Hart said he believed “in the right of people to make choices”, had checked with his electorate and supported the Bill “hopefully with some amendments”.
Southport MP Rob Molhoek supports the legislation but hopes amendments would “protect the conscientious objection of health practitioners”.
Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates, a former nurse, told Parliament she had serious reservations about institutional conscientious objection issues for our faith-based healthcare providers.
“Doctors and nurses, along with the institution they work for, need to have the right of conscientious objection preserved. I know many nurses are fearful about alleviating pain with the big high doses of opioids to make patients who are dying comfortable,” she said.
Coomera MP Michael Crandon said the new laws were flawed and had hoped Labor would support the amendments, admitting “there is no complete answer.
“At the end of this debate, I will vote with my head but with my heart at the centre of my decision,” he said.
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