In the 25-year campaign to restore the rights of the ACT and NT to legislate on assisted dying, there has been small steps and setbacks, little wins and crushing defeats.
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The events in the Senate on Thursday were a giant leap and a resounding win.
The upper house didn't overturn the ban imposed through Kevin Andrews' infamous bill during the one-hour debate.
But it sent a message which supporters have long been yearning to hear: we will.
We will undo what was done in this place on March 25, 1997.
The result of a second reading vote almost always passes without note, nor celebration. But this was different.
The count on Alicia Payne and Luke Gosling's restoring territory rights bill - 41 in favour, 25 against - confirmed a level support which opponents won't be able to overcome when it proceeds to a final vote.
Yes, there were probable no voters absent from the chamber as debate hurried along on Thursday.
But that group numbers five, maybe six. Not enough.
So, when the bill is put to a final vote sometime after 5.30pm next Thursday, barring some extraordinary changes of heart from senators, it will pass.
The rights of the territories to decide their own fate will be restored.
ACT Labor senator Katy Gallagher isn't letting herself declare victory just yet.
She has been around politics for too long to be popping champagne before the final vote is counted.
But as she stood alongside fellow ACT senator David Pocock, the former territory chief minister could appreciate the significance of the message her upper house colleagues sent on Thursday morning.
The last time the territory rights question was put it fell two votes short.
Much has changed since David Leyonhjelm's bill failed in 2018, not least the passage of voluntary assisted dying laws in each state.
As each state moved, the prohibition on the territories became more untenable.
Canberrans knew that. Poll after published poll showed the majority of Australians believed that. Now, Federal Parliament appears to believe it, too.
Of course there are some inside parliament still resisting.
Liberals including Jonathon Duniam dragged out the debate to avoid a final vote on Thursday morning, and are now pushing amendments which would affect euthanasia regimes nationwide.
But even he has accepted defeat.
Ironically, Duniam's actions will make the event of repealing the Andrews bill a more momentous occasion.
Had the vote been held on Thursday, only a few journalists and photographers and a handful of members of the public would have been there to witness it.
Next Thursday night, the public gallery will be full of politicians and advocates who have waited too long for this moment.
One of the seats will be occupied by Andrew Denton, the television personality and fierce assisted dying campaigner.
He has waited 25 years for this.
He was never going to miss it.
- The Canberra Times has been calling for a repeal of the Andrews bill as part of its Our Right to Decide campaign.
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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.
