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Voluntary euthanasia legislation pushed to October
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has pushed voluntary euthanasia legislation to after the state election and referred it to the Law Reform Commission.
Naomi Neilson
Speaking to Parliament on Thursday morning, Ms Palaszczuk explained that the Queensland government would not be going ahead with a legislation on voluntary euthanasia, despite a health committee spending a year assessing the draft.
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Ms Palaszczuk said the legislation would be referred to the Law Reform Commission based in Queensland for consideration, with an expectation that it would respond after the state elections. A response would then be expected by March 2021.
“Voluntary assisted dying is complex and it is a deeply personal issue in which competing interests and views of Queenslanders and experts have to be carefully balanced and the lives of our elderly and most vulnerable people protected,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“These provision[s] of compassionate, high-quality and accessible palliative care for persons at the end of their life [are] a fundamental right for the Queensland community and it is critical that we get this right.”
Under the proposal, people aged 18 years or older would be allowed to seek an assisted death if they were diagnosed by a medical practitioner as having an advanced and progressive terminal illness, or neurodegenerative condition.
Ms Palaszczuk said there were a number of “operational issues” to be considered before the government can implement any voluntary assisted dying scheme. It is for this reason that law reform requires more consideration, much like the Termination of Pregnancy Bill.
