ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has urged senators to reject a last-minute attempt to undermine the territory rights bill, describing the push as a "final rearguard action" from conservatives long opposed to assisted dying.
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Mr Barr has also revealed that if the so-called Andrews bill is overturned on Thursday night, legislation to allow assisted dying in the ACT will be brought forward in the second half of next year.
Mr Barr gathered with a host of territory politicians and assisted dying advocates in Parliament House ahead of final vote on repealing the 25-year-old ban which prevents the ACT and Northern Territory from making their own right-to-die laws.
Leading advocates Andrew Denton and former NT Chief Minister Marshall Perron made a final appeal to senators, declaring "it's time" to restore territory rights.
"Fifty years ago, there was a slogan that lit this country up - 'it's time'," Mr Denton told reporters, referencing Gough Whitlam's famous campaign slogan.
"In 2022, it is way past time for this reform to happen."
The Senate will sit for as long as it takes on Thursday night to reach a final vote on Alicia Payne and Luke Gosling's territory rights bill.
An 11th hour fight dispute has erupted over proposed amendments which supporters of the bill argue will completely undermine future assisted dying regimes in the territories.
Opponents are resigned to the bill passing and have shifted their attention to trying to restrict what the ACT and NT will be able to legislate.
Under an amendment from NT Country Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the ACT and NT parliaments would be barred from passing future legislation which opened up access to assisted dying for under 18s.
The age restriction applies in each of the states' assisted dying regimes.
The amendment would also ensure assisted dying could not be administered solely on the grounds of a person's disability or mental impairments.
Legal advice prepared for ACT independent David Pocock and seen by The Canberra Times warns of serious consequences if the amendment is passed.
In her advice, barrister Fiona McLeod SC said the amendments would introduce new constraints on the territories, contradicting the intention of the bill.
The group of people who might be excluded from accessing assisting dying could be "extremely broad" because of how disability was defined under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
Ms McLeod said the inclusion of disability in the bill would render it "ineffective", as a person seeking access to assisted dying would "inevitably" fall under the definition.
"By way of illustration, if the amendments are adopted, a person diagnosed with an advanced incurable disease expected to cause death within months and causing intolerable suffering (the criteria in NSW and Victoria) could not be the subject of a territory voluntary assisted dying law," the advice said.
MORE TERRITORY RIGHTS COVERAGE:
Mr Barr said the amendment would render the bill redundant and has urged senators to reject it.
He said the proposal should be seen as a blatant attempt to "stymie an effective repeal of the Andrews bill".
"I think this issue (territory rights) has been conclusively resolved in the minds of the public," he said.
"It is a little bit like marriage equality - we are now seeing the final rearguard action being fought by conservatives."
The bill itself appears all but certain to succeed after it last week passed the second reading stage 41 votes to 25.
Ten senators were absent from the vote, but even if all of them were opposed it wouldn't have been enough to turn the result.
That means only a last-minute change of heart from senators who voted in support at the second reading stage, which is considered extremely unlikely, can prevent the bill from passing.
Debate on the bill is expected to start after 5.30pm.
The Canberra Times has been calling for the repeal of the Andrews bill as part of its Our Right to Decide campaign.
More to come.
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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.
