E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO DARWIN – MORNINGS WITH ADAM STEER
MONDAY, 1 AUGUST 2022
SUBJECTS: Territory Rights; voluntary assisted dying legislation.
ADAM STEER, HOST: How would you feel about the Northern Territory and the ACT being the only places in Australia not to be able to pass euthanasia laws? Well, now it's reality, with every Australian state having voluntary assisted dying into law. Of course, the Territory became the first place in the world to legalise euthanasia in 1995, only for federal legislation introduced by Conservative MP Kevin Andrews to override this. It stripped both the NT and the ACT to make its own laws in this space, but not until after four people had successfully used those laws here in the NT. So for nearly 25 years, Territory leaders and politicians have tried to overturn those Commonwealth laws, unsuccessfully. Today will mark another chapter in the fight, with Federal Parliament to consider a private member's bill co-written by Canberra MP Alicia Payne and our very own member for Solomon, Luke Gosling. Luke, good morning. Welcome to the program. Happy Horse's birthday.
LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Yeah, good morning, Adam. Got a tip?
STEER: Be good to your mum.
GOSLING: I spoke with her this morning. Go for it.
STEER: So we saw Senator Sam McMahon's private member's bill fail in the last parliament. How is this one different?
GOSLING: That private senator's bill failed to get the support of former Senator McMahon's own team and failed to progress. Whereas this time we're just focusing on the issue of overturning the Andrews ban and starting in the House of Representatives, where there is a lot of support from MPs from the territories to join with the Territory MPs to restore the rights of the territories. And then when it goes across to the Senate, there are some in the Senate who have reservations but we’ll be spending the next week debating the issue and putting forward our case for Territory rights.
STEER: Labor MPs will be given a conscience vote. How many of your Labor colleagues are you expecting to vote against it in the House of Reps?
GOSLING: I haven't got an accurate fix on that and I wouldn't want to presuppose anyone's vote until they've actually walked into the chamber and had their say. But I certainly understand that for some people this is a difficult issue and some are unable to separate the issue from the issue of voluntary assisted dying as opposed to restoring territory rights. But the reality is that the conscience vote in every state has been by state MPs. And all we're simply saying is that Canberra should no longer stop Territory MPs or MLAs, as we call them, from reflecting the sentiment of the community and their own conscience to vote on this issue.
STEER: It is a bit difficult for those opposing it to argue, isn't it, given that all of the state jurisdictions have now passed euthanasia laws or right to die legislation, that just because you live in the Territory you don't have the same rights as everyone else in the country.
GOSLING: Exactly. The reason I'm putting this private member's bill forward is we need to restore the right of self-determination to the people and the Parliament, the Legislative Assembly, of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Now, as you say, all of the states have already debated and decided on these issues. I'm not sure what sort of timetable or inclination the NT Legislative Assembly will have to deal with this issue. But the fact is they should have the right to deal with this issue and a long consultation process, I would suggest, would be required before drafting of legislation and that being put to a vote. But again, these are issues for the territories to decide because they affect Territorians, not for Canberra or state MPs from other parts of our Commonwealth to make those decisions for us.
STEER: You're on ABC Radio Darwin, it’s 23 to nine, Adam Steer with you. You also are hearing from Luke Gosling, who's the ALP Member for Solomon. That's a seat here in Darwin. Do you know if the Coalition MPs will be offered a conscience vote at this time?
GOSLING: I believe that's likely, Adam. But I’m yet to see that confirmed. I think that's likely. And we'll wait and see later this week how that comes out. But I'm confident that it will pass the House of Representatives. We've been talking to our colleagues here and conversations are happening on the Senate side as well. They're really focusing on that clear issue of equality and fairness. We need to be democratically equal across our country. Currently, we are not. But one thing I need to mention and make really clear, Adam, is that the private member's bill does not legislate voluntary assisted dying for the Territory. It does not bring the 1995 legislation under Marshall Perron back to life. All it simply does, is it removes the Andrews bill's effect, which was to stop the Northern Territory being able to decide on these issues for itself.
STEER: Okay, so Senator Jacinta Price told me last week she's still considering her position on the member's bill. Are you confident it can get through the Senate?
GOSLING: I'm very hopeful it can, Adam. I’ve spoken with Jacinta, I've written to her, and let's see. It's a decision for her to make as a representative of Territorians. One thing that I have in common, absolutely, with Jacinta Price, though, is that we must have very, very strong safeguards to protect vulnerable people. But again, that will be for the process should the NT Legislative Assembly decide to draft legislation. It's not for people down here in Canberra to decide.
STEER: Luke Gosling, good to hear from you, thank you.
GOSLING: Thanks Adam, and I hope everyone has a great day at the races.
