Arabic version: تعميق الانقسام داخل حزب الليبراليين الريفيين بشأن مشروع قانون الموت الطوعي بمساعدة

According to ABC News, division within the Northern Territory’s Country Liberal Party government erupted during parliamentary debate on voluntary assisted dying legislation, as Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley criticised government backbencher Tanzil Rahman over his proposed changes to the bill.

Dr Rahman, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into voluntary assisted dying, described the government’s proposal as “a very narrow VAD act, that will take us 10 years back in standard”. He singled out Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby, who introduced the bill, and said he planned to seek the removal of a clause limiting access to people with 12 months or less to live and a provision preventing medical professionals from initiating VAD discussions with terminally ill patients.

He also plans to move an amendment aimed at preventing care facilities from refusing to provide VAD information in residential settings. Dr Rahman told parliament that “terminality” was not always clear, challenging Ms Boothby’s argument that the 12-month prognosis period was an important safeguard because terminality without it would be subjective.

Mr Maley defended the 12-month timeframe and said Dr Rahman’s proposal used the phrase, “The person is approaching the end of the person’s life”, which he called subjective. He said Dr Rahman had unfairly attacked the attorney-general and that his approach had “gone all wrong”. Mr Maley also criticised MLAs who had spoken publicly to media about the issue, saying it was a delicate subject that should be treated with dignity.

A conscience vote on the bill and amendments is due on Thursday. The proposed changes are considered unlikely to pass, with six MLAs in the 25-seat parliament saying on Tuesday they would definitely support them. Opposition Leader Selena Uibo is planning similar amendments, though support among Labor MLAs remains unclear. The NT first legalised voluntary assisted dying in 1995, but those laws were overturned by the Commonwealth in 1997; the Territory regained the power to legislate on VAD in 2022.