Annastacia Palaszczuk has said the issue of voluntary assisted dying is “beyond politics” and she will allow a conscience vote for Labor MPs as her government unveils proposed laws to legalise euthanasia in Queensland.
“For many, this will be the most important work this parliament will do,” the premier said on Tuesday.
The draft laws will be tabled in parliament next week and a vote is likely to take place by the end of the year.
The proposals, developed by the Queensland Law Reform Commission, would allow voluntary assisted dying in circumstances where a person has a condition that is advanced, progressive and expected to cause death within 12 months.
The person must have the capacity to make a decision, be acting voluntarily, be at least 18 years old, and have been a Queensland resident for at least a year.
The process would require a health practitioner to assess a request to access voluntary assisted dying and, if approved, refer that request for further assessment.
Palaszczuk said the government was spending $171m on palliative care options but “many people who have watched a loved one suffer feel passionately that there must be a dignified alternative”.
“Equally there are those whose opposition is as deeply and sincerely felt,” she said. “That is why, when the time comes, government MPs will vote according to their conscience. This must be beyond politics.”
The Liberal National party’s position has previously been that it grants MPs a conscience vote on matters of life and death, though the party’s platform and its grassroots membership overwhelmingly oppose voluntary assisted dying.
Before the state election, LNP MPs were discouraged from meeting with voluntary euthanasia campaigners and were reluctant to buy into the issue, which in many cases wedges them between the views of party branches and those of constituents. Polling has shown 80% of Queenslanders support voluntary assisted dying.
The last conscience vote in Queensland – on the decriminalisation of abortion in 2018 – resulted in threats to LNP MPs that they could be disendorsed for straying from party policy.
The proposals will be reviewed by a parliamentary committee before being put to the parliament.
“I urge all Queenslanders to follow the debate and participate in it with the utmost respect for other people and other points of view,” Palaszczuk said.
The deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the proposal had taken into account Queensland’s decentralised population. “The draft legislation recognises everyone has an inherent dignity and should be treated with respect and their autonomy when making end-of-life choices should also be respected,” Miles said.
The health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said safeguards had been built into the legislation – including the need for one medical opinion, eligibility requirements and provisions that allow medical practitioners to conscientiously object.
