‘No more political games’: McMahon to introduce NT euthanasia rights Bill after Coalition rejects Labor’s

CLP Senator Sam McMahon is set to introduce a Bill that would allow the Territory to make its own laws about euthanasia, despite the Coalition refusing to support a similar Bill previously introduced by Labor.

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FEDERAL NT CLP Senator Sam McMahon is set to introduce a Bill that would allow the Territory to make its own laws about euthanasia, despite the Coalition refusing to support a similar Bill introduced by Labor three years ago.

Senator McMahon told the NT News she had instructed the Procedure Office to draft the Ensuring Territory Rights Bill 2021, which she is set to introduceat the next federal Senate sittings.

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The Bill would repeal various sections of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978, which currently prevent the NT and ACT from legislating around several issues, including euthanasia.

“By amending the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978, limitations that apply to the Northern Territory parliament pertaining to the acquisition of property on just terms, laws concerning euthanasia, and the application of the Fair Work Act 2009 will be removed,” Senator McMahon said in a statement.

“The commonwealth overrode the Territory’s Rights of the Terminally Ill legislation in 1997 and it is high time the NT’s rights were restored.”

Senator McMahon said the Bill aimed to allow the NT and the ACT to have the same rights to self-govern as the states did.

Her Bill is largely similar to the Restoring Territory Rights Bill 2018, introduced by Labor member for Solomon Luke Gosling and federal member for the ACT seat of Fenner Andrew Leigh.

That Bill was knocked back by the federal Coalition.

“It’s great that Senator McMahon is taking some action and pushing her party to act on Territory rights,” Mr Gosling said. “My ACT colleague Andrew Leigh and I introduced an almost identical Bill back in 2018, but the Coalition federal government refused to bring it forward for debate.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want any more political games. What we all want is justice and equal rights for Territorians to decide on big issues for themselves, just like 25 million other Australians get to do. When the PM comes to Darwin for national cabinet he will need to explain to Territorians whether he is serious about granting Territorians full rights or not.”

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