Off the wire
• Pentagon hides evidence revealing 125 bln USD in wasteful spending: media  • Djokovic ends cooperation with coach Boris Becker  • Aussie dollar remains flat ahead of latest GDP figures  • Interview: Leading economist says China-Britain relationship can be truly golden  • New Zealand raises price for investor migrants  • Tokyo shares climb in morning on firm U.S. stocks  • 1st LD: At least 20 killed, more than 50 trapped as strong quake hit Aceh, Indonesia  • Spotlight: Chilean cherries covets new market opportunities in China, more exports planned  • MLS recognizes David Villa as Most Valuable Player  • Chinese leadership capable of coping with economic challenges: Russian experts  
You are here: 　 Home

Australian state to hold free vote on assisted dying

Xinhua, December 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Victoria is a step closer to becoming the first Australian state to legalize assisted dying.

The Victorian Government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, has confirmed that the state's parliament will hold a free conscience vote on whether euthanasia should be legal in Victoria in 2017.

The announcement of the vote came as part of the government's response to a cross-party parliamentary committee which recommended the legalization of assisted dying for people suffering from incurable diseases.

More than half Andrews' cabinet have declared support for assisted dying in 2016, a surge in support that was prompted by Minister for Health Jill Hennessy declaring she backed it.

Andrews, who had previously opposed the idea, said the death of his father in 2016 had changed his mind.

"We need to accept, all of us, that we can do much better by those who are at the end of their life in very vulnerable circumstances," Andrews told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.

"I think more and more Victorians are coming to the conclusion that we are not giving a dignified end, we are not giving the support, the love and care that every Victorian should be entitled to in their final moments," he said.

Under the free conscience vote MPs will be allowed to vote however they see fit on the matter regardless of their party's stance.

Lorraine Baker from the Victorian arm of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the issue had divided the medical community.

"Our profession is much more concerned about palliative care resourcing ... and some of what's arisen around these debate is based on the fact that we're not delivering as a community adequate palliative care services as a population," Baker told the ABC.

"What we are aware of in the profession, and I'm sure the nursing profession and the palliative care and end-of-life care spaces are aware, is that many communities and people are under-resourced to manage this part of illness when they are suffering at the end of a terminal illness."

South Australia is the only other state to have tried to legalize the practice but legislation has failed to pass the state's parliament 15 consecutive times. Endit