Federal bid to abolish Andrews Bill rejuvenates euthanasia debate in Canberra

A private federal member's bill introduced on Tuesday aims to repeal a 19-year-old law restricting the ACT and Northern Territory politicians from passing any legislation on the issue.

The law, known as the Andrews Bill, was introduced after the Northern Territory legalised euthanasia in 1995 and allowed terminally ill patients to die with medical assistance.

ACT senator Katy Gallagher, who supported the bill along with Greens leader Richard Di Natale, said territory citizens should have the same rights as those in other jurisdictions.

"As it stands now that is not the case and a 20-year-old, outdated and paternalistic law which created a group of second-class citizens should be repealed," she said.

"Importantly, this legislation does not compel either jurisdiction to legislate for voluntary euthanasia it simply allows the democratically elected parliaments of the Northern Territory and the ACT the ability to do so if they choose."

Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan, who chaired a cross-party group of dying with dignity including Northern Territory senator Nova Peris, said the bill had taken two years to draft.

The bill has also reignited the euthanasia debate in the ACT with Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury describing the issue as deeply personal to many Canberrans.

"It is only fair to the people of Canberra that their representatives are able to debate it on their behalf – and take action," he said. "The people of the ACT should have the same rights as other Australian citizens."

But ACT opposition leader Jeremy Hanson said the ACT government should focus on upgrading hospitals and schools rather than repealing the Andrews Bill.

He said the bid was a distraction as euthanasia was "not something at the front of mind for most Canberrans".

In September, Mr Hanson accused Mr Rattenbury of trying to turn Canberra into "the death capital of Australia" after he called for the assembly to lobby former prime minister Tony Abbott to overturn the 1997 law.

ACT Dying with Dignity president Jeanne Arthur, whose group have been campaigning to legalise euthanasia since the late 1980s, said she hoped the bill was more successful than previous efforts to repeal the law.

"If you want to make any legislative changes regarding death it is a serious matter as no one wants to talk about death and everyone is afraid of death," she said.

"For some of our politicians, the idea of death is black and white and they simply do not want to consider degrees of suffering and long-term suffering."

Ms Arthur said she disagreed with Mr Hanson's assessment of euthanasia was a fringe issue not worth of government attention.

"If you look at the statistics, most people who die are older than 55 and at least a third of Canberra's population falls within that age bracket," she said.

"How we die is of great importance for a significant part of the territory population."

ACT chief minister Andrew Barr said euthanasia should be debated in the legislative assembly.

"The ACT Legislative Assembly should have the same rights as the state parliaments," he said. "The rights of ACT residents should not be compromised by the ideals of federal politicians, who don't represent the territory."

Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm has also introduced a private bill to overturn the law.