LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Good morning everyone, and thanks for coming along. We're very proud, as Territorians and as people representing the people of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, to report that the Restoring Territory Rights Bill has passed the House of Representatives, 99 to 37 votes. I want to thank all of the parliamentarians that supported territory rights, and also to say that we respect the choices of those who didn't for their own reasons. It is well past time that Territorians, whether they be in the Northern Territory or the ACT, were [no longer] treated as second class citizens. And by an overwhelming margin today in House of Representatives, our colleagues have said Territorians should have the same democratic rights as those Australians living in the States, and we're thankful for that support. The bill will now go into the Senate, and we're hoping that it receives support there as well. And that will mean for Territorians that we will regain the ability to make laws on issues that affect us as Territorians. Thank you.
ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Thanks, Luke. Thank you. It's an incredibly special moment that our bill has just passed the House, and I'm very, very thankful to each of our parliamentary colleagues across political lines who supported the rights of territories to have the same democratic rights as other Australians. We asked our colleagues outside of the territories to do this for our constituents, and I'm really thankful that the House has passed this bill. But we're only halfway there. The conversation needs to continue now in the Senate, and those discussions with our colleagues are continuing. But just to say, again, that it's well past time that people in the ACT and the Northern Territory had the same rights as other Australians to debate voluntary assisted dying, as all other states have. And again, I put that plea now to our Senate colleagues to please do this for our constituents, to have their say, to be able to have that debate that others have had. And while as I say, I really am particularly thankful to those colleagues who don't personally support voluntary assisted dying, but do support our equal democratic rights, and had their vote counted in that way today to allow us to have that. Thank you.
ANDREW LEIGH, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Can I just add, I wanted to thank the many groups who've stepped up to campaign on this issue. Andrew Barr and Tara Cheyne in the ACT Assembly, many in the Northern Territory Assembly. Health experts and groups such as Go Gentle, led by Andrew Denton, have been instrumental in speaking to colleagues on the Labor side, the Coalition side and the crossbench. It's really been a big joint effort to make the case that the 25-year-old Andrews ban must go.
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY, SENATOR FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY: So I'll have to speak on behalf of the Senate. Good morning, everyone. If I can just acknowledge that we are on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, and just pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. And just say a huge congratulations to my colleagues in the House. Well done, and a big thank you to all the members who supported this in the House. Obviously, the next step is for us to take this bill into the Senate. And I take this opportunity to call on senators to have a good look at the discussion and debate that took place in the House, and recognise that for the people of the territories, both in the ACT and the Northern Territory, that we do want to be treated as equal. And that our legislative assemblies in both those territories should have the right to discuss and debate on issues that impact them and that matter to the territories. And I urge senators to have a good look, and let's hope we can have the same outcome in the Senate.
GOSLING: Thanks very much, everyone.
JOURNALIST: A question for really anybody. There was a general hope that the bill wouldn't just pass in the lower house, but it would pass very comfortably and send a message to the Senate, that it would be a show of support in the House and that would hopefully sway a few of those people who might be on the fence. 99 to 37. Is that the scale of the win that you were hoping for, and do you think that sends a strong enough message to the Senate?
GOSLING: I think the vote reflects the fact that any issues that have any sort of implication for discussions around end of life, which are very personal issues, are very strong in people. But very encouraged by the fact that still the overwhelming majority, clear position was that Territorians should be able to debate these issues. So I don't want to get down to a commentary about whether it was enough or not enough; it reflected the will of the people in this place that represent Australians. And as Alicia said, we're very grateful to those who, like myself, have reservations, personal reservations around voluntary assisted dying, however saw that this does not legislate for voluntary assisted dying but simply provides an opportunity for the territory legislative assemblies representing Territorians to debate and legislate on these issues, if they decide to do so.
JOURNALIST: So now that it has passed the House, what additional talks or negotiations are you aiming to have with senators to ensure that it does end up passing the upper house?
GOSLING: We'll continue to talk with our Senate colleagues to see if they have any questions about the bill. The biggest thing, the biggest message, I guess, for Senators is that the 1995 NT legislation that was overturned by the Andrews ban is null and void. It does not, if it passes - if our bill passes the Senate, it does not come alive again. There will need to be a period of deep consultation, of drafting of legislation, should the legislative assemblies decide to do so. And then it would need to be a vote by those assemblies. So that's a message to all senators: this is about restoring the rights of Territorians to be treated the same as any other Australian, and we'll continue to have those conversations with all senators that wish to do so in the coming time before the vote.
JOURNALIST: Luke, there was some concern among some of the Coalition there wasn't enough time given to this debate, especially had in the parliament. Do you think there was enough time allowed for this? It was only introduced, obviously, last week by yourself. Was there a time given to this debate for people to air their thoughts?
GOSLING: Yeah, everyone had more than enough time to speak on the bill, to reflect on these issues, to have conversations with their colleagues. But what happened this morning is I just think the opposition, respectfully, weren't focused. They weren't on game. We were just moving through the process of a second reading, and went into a third reading, which I think caught the opposition by surprise because they weren't tracking the debate. But there was time for all members to speak on the bill, to take part in the debate. And, again, I'm just grateful for those who back the rights of Territorians to be treated the same as any other Australian, and the Senate now has the debate ahead of it. And we wish all senators well with their deliberations—
JOURNALIST: I realise obviously you're in the House and not the Senate, and you're not the manager of business in the Senate. But would you hope that this, when would you hope this would to pass the Senate? Would you hope in the next sitting period?
GOSLING: Yeah, I think we all hope that all senators are given the opportunity to take part in the debate, and that this matter is brought to a conclusion at the first opportunity. That will hopefully be in the next setting period, and we look forward to that.
JOURNALIST: Are you expecting a much tighter result in the Senate? I think there's a general expectation that it was always going to pass in the House, but be much tighter in the Senate. Is that the sense that you and your territory colleagues have?
GOSLING: Yeah. I think as I've mentioned before, I would never pretend to understand the Senate and how members there would vote. But I've got a lot of friends and professional colleagues on both sides of the parliament and on the crossbench, and I'm quietly encouraged about their understanding about the nature of this bill being about restoring territory rights. And I've had some good conversations even this morning with some senators who were seeking that reassurance that this vote in of itself is not legislating voluntary assisted dying, and they've been happy to support the territories on that basis.
JOURNALIST: We saw yesterday when it was being debated in the Federation Chamber, a number of opponents spoke out, including Julian Leeser. He went as far as citing references to Nazi Germany and the euthanasia programme with the sick and disabled. Are you guys expecting that in the no campaign, people who are opponents to this, to really ramp up now that it's reaching the pointy end? And how are you as territory MPs and Senators going to try and counter that?
GOSLING: I’ll pass to see if any of my colleagues want to add anything after this, but we are hoping for a mature vote that is reflective of Australia in 2022. We are hoping for a respectful debate that goes to the heart of the issue of territory rights. If people want to treat this as a proxy vote on voluntary assisted dying, we'll continue to encourage them to look at it as an issue of democratic equality in our nation. And we hope that if there are opponents to this, that they use their vote to reflect that, but they do so in the knowledge that this bill simply is trying to take the Andrews bill and put it into history, so that Territorians can make laws for themselves. I'll give anyone else the opportunity to comment.
PAYNE: As Luke said, I really hope that we will see a respectful debate around this in the public debate. It is an issue with strongly held views on either side and far-reaching implications for many people. And I respect all of those views. And I must say, I did find some of the speeches against our bill quite hard to listen to, given the bill that Luke and I have moved is about allowing territories to have that debate. As federal politicians, it's not our responsibility to debate the issue of voluntary assisted dying. It is our responsibility— well, we have had the power to take this right away from territories, which is what happened with the 1997 Andrews bill. This bill, which has just passed the House, is about restoring those rights for our territories. It's very much about that, and I've been very pleased again to see that support. But I just do want to— as the discussion continues into the Senate, it's another one of these debates that can be very damaging for people that have strong views if it is not done respectfully, and just want to appeal to everyone involved to respect others views on this sensitive topic as we go forward. But again, for the Federal Parliament, this is about allowing that debate to happen in the territories. It's about respecting that debate. So again, I just appeal to people to see this as about democratic rights, as it is first and foremost.
GOSLING: Thanks so much everyone.
