Premier Annastacia Palaszczukintroduced the long-awaited bill in May to allow suffering Queensland-based adults the ability to end their lives under strict criteria including a diagnosed eligible condition expected to cause death within a year,and capacity to make the decision themselves without coercion.
If passed by the state’s unicameral parliament,Queensland would become the fifth Australian state to introduce such laws behind South Australia – which passed its bill in June – Western Australia and Victoria,the only state where they are operational.
Ms Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Steven Miles both personally support the bill,though Mr Miles warned in June it was far from a certainty given the conscience vote – not seen since the passage of abortion laws in 2018,50 votes to 41.
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Only the party’s former maverick Bundamba MP Jo-Ann Miller voted against the abortion bill,but did not speak during the debate. Labor’s Logan MP Linus Power abstained in the 2018 vote,and has since spoke publicly against the “serious unintended consequences” the assisted dying laws at the state party conference this year.
Pro-life and major church groups had been hoping for a carve out for conscientious objections by related and privately run hospitals and care facilities. While the bill will allow them to do so,they will be required to meet a range of requirements around not hindering access to information and taking reasonable steps to allow or facilitate access to assisted dying services.
Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper,who chairs the committee alongside fellow Labor members Joan Pease and Ali King,said on balance the bill allowed for institutions to object,but believed the issue should be above politics and religion. “It should be about people,” he said.