Voluntary euthanasia laws pass lower house in marathon session
VICTORIA’S first voluntary euthanasia laws have passed the Legislative Assembly in a marathon parliamentary session, as Labor defends a crude text inadvertently sent to Deputy Premier James Merlino.
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VICTORIA’S first voluntary euthanasia laws have passed the Legislative Assembly after a marathon 25 hour parliamentary session.
The fate of the bill, which would allow for terminally ill patients to apply for access to lethal medication, will now be decided by 40 upper house MPs next month.
State MPs who voted for the laws clapped and cheered after the final vote was read out shortly after 11.20 this morning.
Emotional MPs hugged and wiped away tears as they left the chamber.
The final count was 47 votes in favour of the legislation proceeding to the upper house and 37 against.
The marathon session concluded an emotional week which saw tensions in the Labor Party boil over in a crude text message inadvertedly sent to Deputy Premier James Merlino by Health Minister Jill Hennessy, as Mr Merlino spoke against her assisted death Bill.
The text said: “He is a C U next Tuesday”, which is a colloquial phrase for c---.
Apparently realising her mistake, Ms Hennessy then “or Wednesday next week”.
The minister then said she would have her office organise it, to which Mr Merlino wrote: “nice recovery”.
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Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said there were clearly “deep seeded” issues within the Labor Government following the “C U next Tuesday” text message.
“To have the Health Minister making those kinds of comments about the Deputy Premier is quite extraordinary,” he said.
“Clearly the government’s got real deep seeded problems when it comes to their personal relationships, I think it’s more than just this one Bill,” he said.
Mr Guy said Daniel Andrews should explain why his ministers were sending such messages about each other.
He said it had been an emotional week for many MPs and, while he was disappointed with today’s outcome, he believed the vote in the Upper House will be closer than people expect.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he could not more be proud of Health Minister Jill Hennessy for her role in the historic legislation.
“She is not only a good friend but an outstanding Minister for Health ... I know her mum would be very proud of her today,” he said.
Mr Andrews said he would not comment on the text message but held great respect for both his colleagues and maintained it was a respectful debate despite last night’s revelations.
After a marathon 26 hour sitting, Mr Andrews said today’s vote was an example of the “Victorian Parliament at its best”.
“My colleagues and I are very proud that we have taken a very big step towards giving many Victorians the dignity and compassion that they have been denied,” he said.
Labor MP Jane Garrett said there had been some “colour and movement in the debate” but that should not detract from the importance of the legislation.
“Both James Merlino and Jill Hennessy have followed their heart and done their community proud,” Ms Garrett said.
Some Labor MPs were outraged, saying it reflected the pressure put on Mr Merlino to drop his bid to derail the Bill, which failed on Wednesday night.
Last night, as Coalition MPs attempted to amend the Bill, some Labor MPs said the text was “hilarious”, while some said they didn’t know what the phrase meant.
There is a growing concern in ALP ranks about the hostility between Mr Merlino — a fierce opponent of euthanasia — and senior Andrews Government ministers.
Advocates and opponents in the public gallery, including euthanasia advocate Andrew Denton, watched on as the vote was announced.
Mr Denton, who has been a vocal campaigner for assisted dying laws was embraced by fellow supporters.
Lower house MPs wrangled over amending the laws all night, with the government insisting on seeing out the debate until there was a vote on the historic legislation.
More than 100 amendments remained at 6am this morning. But by 10.30am the public gallery was completely full as the final vote neared.
Emotions ran high throughout the night, with bleary-eyed MPs running in and out of the chamber for votes on amendments to everything from conscientious objection clauses to the time frame for requesting death.
If the laws pass the upper house, voluntary euthanasia would be legal within 18 months.
During that time, new deadly drugs would be developed that patients approved for assisted-death would have to self-administer.
Patients with terminal illnesses would have to make the request three times over 10 days, and be approved by two doctors.
Overnight, several bids to amend clauses of the Bill, which would allow for terminally ill people to apply for lethal medication within a year of their expected death, were shot down by the government.
Most Labor MPs were hopeful the legislation would pass the Legislative Assembly today, meaning they would pass to the Upper House in November.
If the Bill goes through both houses of parliament this year it will not come into effect until mid-2019.
Mr Andrews said any other attempts to amend the Bill would not be supported.
“This is a good Bill, it is the product of a long and considered process involving experts,” Mr Andrews said.
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