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Victoria could become first Australian state to legalize voluntary euthanasia

Xinhua, April 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Terminally ill patients in the Australian state of Victoria could soon have the choice of a medically-assisted suicide, as Victoria's Parliament will host a debate about legalizing voluntary euthanasia on Wednesday.

The Greens party is the driving force behind the move. If the existing legislation is changed, Victoria would be the first state in Australia to approve voluntary euthanasia.

The Greens will ask that Attorney-General Martin Pakula refer the issue to the Law Reform Commission, which would take on advice from both legal minds and the public.

If approved, the Law Reform Commission could have a report ready for the Victorian Parliament to vote on by December 2015.

A similar motion was thwarted in Victorian Parliament seven years ago, but Greens MP Colleen Hartland said on Wednesday that there was plenty of public support for the law to be enacted in 2015.

An Australian Broadcasting Commission poll taken before the state election last year determined that 79 percent of Labor voters and 71 percent of Coalition voters were in favor of voluntary euthanasia.

The motion would have to gain the support of the Labor MPs to pass, but Hartland said opening up the debate was the first important step to changing some entrenched views.

"We need a considered review that consults with a wide range of stakeholders as to how the law might be changed to reflect community support for dying with dignity and provide very strong safeguards to prevent abuse of these laws," she said.

It is unsure whether Labor MPs would be allowed a conscience vote on the issue, but Liberal MPs have already been told they can vote independently of party preferences, and a number of smaller parties have thrown their support behind the Greens.

Hartland said the discussion was important for allowing those that could be suffering the choice of whether to stay alive and in pain or die with dignity.

"We believe that is the appropriate place for this to go so we can have that conversation with the community about whether it is a good thing or not to have dying with dignity legislation," she said. Endi