The Catholic Church is lobbying federal politicians to oppose a bill to restore the ACT and NT's right to legalise voluntary assisted dying, arguing the change would amount to the Commonwealth sanctioning the killing of its own citizens.
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The plea came as the University of Canberra's vice-chancellor made his own public intervention into the debate, calling on the Federal Parliament to fix the "long-standing blight on Australian democracy" and end the 25-year-old ban.
The lobbying campaign on both sides is starting to intensify as Labor backbenchers Alicia Payne and Luke Gosling prepare to introduce legislation to repeal the so-called Andrews bill next Monday.
The Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn Christopher Prowse this week sent a letter to all federal MPs and Senators, warning them about the bill.
Archbishop Prowse rubbished the argument that the legislation was about democratic rights, arguing that it was "solely" aimed at allowing the territories to legislate for "state-sanctioned killing through euthanasia".
He said via the legislation, the Commonwealth was being asked, for the first time, to sanction the killing of its most vulnerable citizens in jurisdictions where it had direct responsibility.
"My view is that a radical change to society's most foundational law, overturning the prohibition on the intentional killing of citizens, is ethically unjustifiable, cannot ensure legal protection of the vulnerable, and would fail to uphold the dignity of the dying," he said in the letter, which was leaked to The Canberra Times.
All states have passed assisted dying laws since Victoria become the first in 2017.
While he did not explicitly ask parliamentarians to vote against the bill, Archbishop Prowse appealed for them to consider their duty to work for the "common good and dignity of persons".
He wrote that politicians would need to accept "a particular responsibility" for the outcomes of their vote.
"Legislation directly and specifically aimed at enabling lethal injections is difficult to reconcile with your responsibilities to the common good or the dignity of the person," the letter read.
On the other side of the debate, the leaders of the only two universities created under territory legislation - University of Canberra [UC] and Charles Darwin University [CDU] - have made a rare intervention into the political debate to throw their support behind the Payne-Gosling bill.
In a joint statement, UC Vice-Chancellor Paddy Nixon and his CDU counterpart Scott Bowman said the bill would address a "long-standing blight on Australian democracy".
"UC is required by law to pay special attention to the needs of Canberrans and self-determination is a fundamental need of all people," Professor Nixon said.
"It is not our usual practice to speak out on legislation before the Parliament, but this legislation is critical."
Professor Bowman said it was the role of universities to stand up for a "fair, just and equitable society".
"Our inability to consider and pass legislation is out of line with the rights of all other Australians, and it is unconscionable that Territorians exist in a less democratic form of government," Professor Bowman said.
"We collectively call on all members of parliament and every senator to respect the exercise of democracy in Australia by supporting the speedy passage of this legislation".
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Labor sources are confident the legislation will reach a vote in the House of Representatives before the end of this sitting fortnight.
But it's believed there is next to no chance of there being enough time to pass it through the Senate next week.
Parliament's next sitting fortnight starts on September 5.
Labor has agreed to allow a conscience vote because of the sensitivities around assisting dying.
The Coalition party room has yet to consider its position, although it is almost certain to follow suit.
Two Coalition members - Simon Birmingham and Andrew Bragg - have already declared their public support for restoring rights.
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
