The parliamentary debate on Victoria’s proposed voluntary assisted dying legislation has run into its third day, with questions raised by MPs about how residents from other jurisdictions will be prevented from travelling to access the law if it passes.
The marathon debate continued as the former Labor prime minister Paul Keating made a dramatic intervention, telling Fairfax Media that passing the laws would be a mistake. Voluntary assisted dying would be “an unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence … and what it means to be human”, Keating, a Catholic, said. The debate has divided former Labor prime ministers, with Bob Hawke saying last year it was “absurd” Australia did not have voluntary assisted dying in place.
The debate in Victorian parliament on Thursday focused on who would have access to the scheme. Under the proposed law, a person must be an adult and an Australian citizen or permanent resident and must also ordinarily reside in Victoria. The health minister, Jill Hennessy, who is driving the bill, said the bill was only for Victorians and would not encourage so-called “euthanasia tourism”.
Who can apply?
- Victorian adults, with a progressive, advanced terminal illness and 12 months or less to live
- Suffering must be deemed 'intolerable'
- They must be of sound mind
How will it work?
- Patients must make three, clear requests
- They will be assessed by two experienced doctors
- Those approved will be granted permits for lethal medications, which must be self-administered
- A permit will be granted for doctors to administer medication only in cases where the patient physically cannot
- Doctors do not have to be present when patients administer the medication
- The process to apply and receive medication cannot take less than nine days
- The Department of Health and Human Services will approve applications
- An assisted dying review board will oversee each step of the process
What are the penalties?
- Potential life imprisonment for a breach of the self-administration permit
- Five years' jail and substantial fines for inducing someone to request the scheme
- Doctors who suggest the assisted dying scheme to patients face a professional misconduct investigation
Source: Victorian government
But the parameters around what “ordinarily reside” means are unclear, including how long someone would need to have been living in Victoria or what documents they would need to produce – for example, proof of electoral enrolment or a Victorian driver’s licence.
The Liberal MP Kim Wells pressed Hennessy on the issue, asking, “How do we restrict this legislation to only those living in Victoria and who are Victorians? … So we don’t have a situation where there are numerous people coming in from other states.”
Her Liberal colleague Robert Clark expressed a similar concern: “We certainly don’t want Victoria to be the suicide capital of the nation.”
Hennessy said it would be up to the two doctors involved in the process to decide if someone was a Victorian resident. She said a voluntary assisted dying review board would be set up and would provide information to doctors regarding patient’s residency.
Under the proposed legislation the board would review every case of assisted dying, as well as a series of new criminal offences for anyone – including health practitioners – who did not follow the guidelines and safeguards. If there were any uncertainties around residency, the matter would be referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to resolve, Hennessy said.
Four people died under the Northern Territory’s short-lived Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, which was overturned by the federal government in 1997. The act did not require that patient be a resident of the Territory and two of the patients moved to the Territory in order to die.
On Thursday Victoria’s lower house began debating some of the more than 100 proposed amendments to the legislation. Hennessy and the premier, Daniel Andrews, said they would not countenance amendments, though MPs have a conscience vote on the bill and the attorney general, Martin Pakula, told the House there was “no predetermined view” on amendments.
The Liberal MP Ryan Smith has proposed replacing every mention of “voluntary assisted dying substance” with the word “poison”.
An amendment proposed by Clark would have seen lethal medication removed from any patient whose application to access voluntary assisted dying was challenged in Vcat. It was narrowly defeated 41 to 40. Hennessy told the parliament that Vcat already had powers to order a patient return the medication, which would be required to be kept in a locked box.
Clark described the bill as proposing “disgraceful implementation” of the scheme. Cases of people suffering harrowing deaths cited by politicians in support of voluntary assisted dying reflected a failure of palliative care rather than a need for the legislation.
The parliament also began going through all 141 clauses of the bill on Thursday. The debate may continue until the early hours of Friday morning. If it passes the lower house, it is expected to go to the upper house in a fortnight, where supporters say it has more support.
The debate continues.
