NT still stuck on voluntary euthanasia

After Victoria recently became the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, the case for statehood in the Northern Territory has been put back on the agenda.

Northern Territory Voluntary Euthanasia Society president Judy Dent. Picture: SUPPLIED

After Victoria recently became the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, the case for statehood in the Northern Territory has been put back on the agenda.

Voluntary assisted dying for people suffering from painful, terminal illnesses became legal in Victoria on Wednesday.

Northern Territory Voluntary Euthanasia Society president Judy Dent said she was somewhat “annoyed” to see the Territory blocked from reintroducing euthanasia while Victorians receive the right to a peaceful death.

Ms Dent’s husband, Bob Dent, was the first person first person to use the Territory’s Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 1996 before it was squashed.

“He had prostate cancer that spread to his bones,” Ms Dent said.

Although the NT was the first jurisdiction to have voluntary assisted dying, a bill in 1997 was passed which amended the self-government Act of the NT and essentially prohibited the Territory from passing euthanasia legislation.

Ms Dent has been advocating for two decades, however nothing has changed.

“The fact that the Northern Territory Voluntary Euthanasia Society still exists is a triumph,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have to move to Victoria to get assisted dying. The Northern Territory has at least the possibility of becoming a state and circumventing that legislation …”

Chief Minister Michael Gunner recently told the NT News he wants Territorians to have more self-determination rather than having the federal government make decisions.

“For me, from the moment Victoria passed that legislation, it raised again the importance of Territorians being able to make their own decisions,” he said.

Mr Gunner said Member for Solomon Luke Gosling is working on the issue.

“Luke (Gosling) has been working on a private members bill with Andrew Leigh around giving this right back to Territorians, Andrew Leigh is obviously from ACT and they have a similar push as well,” he said.