Greens ready with euthanasia bill

Monday 29 January 2007
Greens ready with euthanasia bill

Greens Leader Bob Brown will introduce a private member's bill to the Senate next week to rekindle the debate on euthanasia.

"A decade after the Northern Territory laws were overridden by Canberra, my bill proposes a similar law for death with dignity for Australia. It is mostly a state legislative matter but public feeling is strongly behind the right of terminally ill people, if supported by loved ones and doctors, to be able to die with dignity. That is what the bill proposes," Senator Brown said.

"I was stunned last year when both the government and opposition blocked debate on a Greens motion "that the Senate supports the right of Australians to die with dignity".

"It is as if both the government and opposition don't even want to debate the issue," Senator Brown said.