Australia's two territories are a step away from being able to legislate on voluntary assisted dying, providing hope to those advocating for decades for change.
A bill to repeal the 25-year federal ban passed the lower house yesterday, with the architect of the Northern Territory's 1995 voluntary assisted dying legislation, former chief minister Marshall Perron, lamenting how long it had taken.
"Very sadly, probably many people have died badly who would've used the Territory legislation had it stayed on foot in 1997, but that's all history now," he said.
The Northern Territory became the first place in the world to legalise voluntary assisted dying, under the Country Liberal government led by Mr Perron.
The federal parliament used its powers over the territories to stop the practice in 1997, but a bill to overturn the ban is now just a Senate vote away from passing into law.
Speaking on Wednesday morning after the vote, Mr Perron said he was "obviously delighted" that the issue was finally coming to a head.
He said there had been bills in federal parliament waiting for debate continuously for the past 18 years.
"It took five prime ministers before Albanese came along and has said he is prepared to let the matter come to debate," he said.
Mr Perron said the Northern Territory's laws in 1995 were in some ways stricter than legislation adopted by all six of Australia's states in the decades since.
A person seeking to end their life in the NT needed the medical backing of two doctors with expertise in the specific illness causing their suffering, plus a statement from a psychiatrist saying treatment would be unable to convince them to change their mind.
'We should have been able to keep our law'
It has come as welcome news to Judy Dent, whose husband Bob became the first man to end his own life through the NT's laws in 1996, and who has been advocating to rescind the ban.
"This is further than it's gone before, we've been trying for a long long time," she said.
"We should have been able to keep our law in the territory, there was nothing wrong with the law.
"It wasn't a seatbelt law - if you wanted to ignore it, you could safely ignore it."
Ms Dent said it has taken "ridiculously too long" to get federal parliament to vote on the issue.
Senate vote for territory rights looms
The "Restoring Territory Rights" bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on Monday by Northern Territory MP Luke Gosling.
Mr Gosling, who has reservations about voluntary assisted dying, said he was introducing the legislation because "I have a responsibility as a representative of Territorians to ensure we are no longer treated as second-class citizens when it comes to making laws on issues that affect the lives of Territorians".
"To be in this secondary position means we're unequal," he said.
NT Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said in January it was "beyond time" that territorians were treated the same as other Australians.
But uncertainty remains around the position of Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Price, who prior to the election said she held concerns about allowing the NT government to legislate around voluntary assisted dying.
Mr Perron, who led the CLP for years, was unwilling to say whether he had been privately advocating Ms Price to support the bill.
"You can be assured that I use whatever opportunities I can to influence any members I can ... to my point of view," he said.
"Jacinta will make up her own mind as to what she is going to do on this bill in due course."
