Assisted dying bill all wrong, says NSW minister Damien ­Tudehope

A senior NSW government minister has spoken out against proposed laws seeking to legalise voluntary assisted dying, likening them to ‘state-sanctioned killing’ of vulnerable people.

NSW Finance Minister Damien Tudehope. Picture: Adam Yip

A senior Perrottet government minister has spoken out against proposed NSW laws seeking to legalise voluntary assisted dying, likening them to “state-sanctioned killing” of vulnerable people and a measure that signals “ending your life is a good option”.

Finance Minister Damien ­Tudehope, a close factional colleague of Premier Dominic Perrottet, has argued that any move to legalise assisted suicide would be “plain wrong” and inconsistent with recent efforts undertaken across the government to protect vulnerable cohorts.

Supporters of the legislation appear to be close to securing a majority of votes, with some MPs previously opposed to assisted dying appearing to signal a shift in their position on the eve of the bill being introduced to parliament.

Neither Mr Perrottet nor Labor leader Chris Minns are supporting the bill. However, their parties, along with those of the crossbench, will allow a conscience vote on the matter.

NSW is currently the only state in Australia not to have adopted voluntary assisted dying laws. Alex Greenwich’s bill, which included 28 co-sponsors across the parliament, will seek to give terminally ill individuals the ­option to end their lives.

They will need to display a ­decision-making capability and proof they are suffering from a condition that is advanced, progressive and likely to cause death within six months. The time frame is expanded to 12 months for neurodegenerative conditions; they will also be assessed to ensure they are not under duress or pressure.

In addition to opposing the bill, Mr Tudehope added that its ­timing was “beyond belief”.

“After everything we have been through as a state, it is hard to understand how we could soon be considering a law that will ­effectively allow state sanctioned killing of those who are most in need of our care – it is just plain wrong,” he wrote in an opinion piece written for The Australian.

“The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill proposes a government-appointed board to authorise the supply of a lethal poison to cause the death of a person either by self-administration (suicide) or by injection by a doctor or nurse (euthanasia).

“To do so, the bill has to create an exemption to the existing law prohibiting anyone from aiding, abetting, inciting or counselling another person to commit suicide. Let that sink in.

“And in so doing, the bill sends the very clear message that for some people, suicide is actually an OK choice. That sometimes pain and suffering makes ending your life a good option. That some people really are better off dead.

Similar bills have been debated in the NSW parliament numerous times over the past two decades, most recently in 2017 when the NSW Legislative Council voted against the proposal 20 to 19.

But the makeup of the council has changed since that time, and some MPs who voted no in 2017 indicated a potential adjustment to their position when contacted on Wednesday.

Liberal MP Don Harwin told The Australian he had not decided how he would vote on the bill. Catherine Cusack, another Liberal MP, also voted against the bill in 2017 and declined to comment when contacted. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said she remained undecided. NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham said he had not seen the bill but had supported VAD legislation 25 years ago, ­although he had since become sceptical of “the capacity of government to get it right”.

Rod Roberts, also a NSW One Nation MLC, said he was broadly supportive of voluntary assisted dying but would remain uncommitted until he had seen the bill.

Of the 42 MLCs who will vote, The Australian understands at least 19 are supportive, with about 10 uncommitted. Robert Borsak and Mark Banasiak, both Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MPs, said they would not support it.