Despite his personal opposition to voluntary assisted dying, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says the journey toward the passage of laws allowing the practice has brought people together.
The premier, who opposed the legalising of voluntary assisted dying, said he did not agree with the bill and believes it should be a "last resort".
But Mr Perrottet also said he felt the political debate had brought out the best in the state's parliamentary representatives.
"I've always found these conscience debates bring out the best in our parliamentarians," he said on Friday.
"People speak from the heart, they don't speak along party lines."
He gave credit to Independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich, who introduced a private member's bill on the issue to the lower house last year with a record 28 co-sponsors from across the political spectrum.
Appearing with Mr Greenwich in Sydney's lower north shore, the premier said the pair continued to disagree over the bill.
"But I think he set a tone for a deeply respectful and sensitive debate on, I think, an issue that people come from their different perspectives," he told reporters.
Mr Perrottet spoke against the bill when it was introduced to the lower house in 2021.
"As premier I thought it important that I spoke first and gave my view in relation to this bill," he said.
"Now, clearly the majority of the parliament disagree with me, and that's okay.
"That's the very nature of the great democracy that we live in and there will always be different views. "
Mr Perrottet said he was very proud that the NSW Parliament had presided over a respectful, tolerant and sensitive debate.
"Sometimes, in the past, debates like these can tear us apart," he added.
"I think it's brought us more together."
The premier still believes NSW needs to improve palliative care with assisted dying a last resort.
The bill, which was passed in the upper and lower houses on Thursday, allows people with a terminal illness and who have less than six months to live to opt to end their lives with assistance.
NSW was the last state in Australia to legalise assisted dying legislation.
The Northern Territory and the ACT remain outside the changes.
