Victoria's controversial voluntary euthanasia legislation has been passed in the Lower House of Parliament after a marathon debate that lasted more than 24 hours.

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passed 47 votes to 37, after a conscience vote.

The majority of Labor MPs backed bill, along with two Greens, two independents and a handful of Coalition MPs.

The bill will now go to the 40-member Upper House, where the numbers are also tight, for debate in a fortnight.

If it gets through the Upper House, terminally ill people over the age of 18, in severe pain and with only a year to live will be able to access lethal drugs.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he was proud of the efforts of Health Minister Jill Hennessy, who was one of the driving forces behind the bill.

"And now we've got this done."

Conscience vote splits parties as debate drags

Tempers flared in the chamber during the protracted debate, as those opposed to the bill tried to pass more than a dozen clauses and hundreds of amendments.

The amendments called for legislative changes such as the public release of euthanasia statistics, prohibitions on advertising for voluntary assisted dying and stricter requirements around psychiatric assessments.

"This has been a one-eyed process all along," Liberal MP Robert Clark told Parliament.

"The refusal to accept any amendments to provide greater provision of data, greater accountability, greater scrutiny is simply testament to that fact."

Mr Andrews has described the laws — which were designed by an expert panel including former medical association head Brian Owler — as the most conservative euthanasia regime in the world.

They include a range of safeguards. Patients would have to make three requests and see specially trained doctors, and coercing someone to seek a medically assisted death would become a crime.

In most cases — estimated to be about 150 a year — the lethal dose would be self-administered. But in some cases where patients cannot administer the drug, doctors could be involved.

If passed, the legislation will not come into effect for 18 months to allow for its implementation.

Unlike when the Northern Territory introduced euthanasia laws, only to see them overruled by the Howard government, Victoria's laws cannot be overturned by the Commonwealth.

Polling has consistently shown widespread support for euthanasia for the terminally ill, including last year's ABC Vote Compass, which found three out of four Australians backed the idea.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-20/voluntary-assisted-dying-bill-vote-in-vict...

But will it get thru the Senate ????

Depends on how Greeny the senate is as they would push the Greeny Death thing thru.

Hope some Greenies volunteer to try it out ?

double post

mothra wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 11:15am:


It really astounds me that there's even a debate.

People taking their own life.

"their own" ... it's theirs!

18 months? How bloody hard can it be?

greggerypeccary wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 11:53am:



It's the same with medical marijuana. Legal now, but nobody can actually get it passed the red tape.

cods wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 2:45pm:


That's right: "their life".

It's nobody else's - it's theirs.

If I take my TV out of my house, and I'm stealing?

Why should anyone have the right to tell me I can't take my life?

mothra wrote on Oct 20^th, 2017 at 2:52pm:


Sorry