Northern Territory Euthanasia Collection - Address to the Remembering ROTI Conference by Marshall Perron, 22 September 2006

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CreatorPerron, MarshallScope and ContentsMarshall Perron discusses the life of the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act from his first thoughts in the early 1990s to its overturning by the Euthanasia Laws Act in 1997. The catalyst that prompted Perron into action was the 1994 Australian Medical Association conference "Ethics and Law - The Dying Patient". Perron felt that providing that the safeguards in place were adequate then arguments against euthanasia were only emotional, and admits to misjudging the power of the religious opposition. Perron drafted the NT Bill with the help of the Victorian Euthanasia Society and posted a copy of the draft along with information packs to politicians, journalists and over 300 organisations, took out full-page ads in the Sunday Territorian and monitored the media in an attempt to get ahead of the public debate. Public support was very strongly in favour while major opponents were religious groups, right to life associations and the AMA. Perron characterises these opponents as well-funded and dishonest, and cites several examples to support these claims of dishonesty. The Draft Bill was introduced to Parliament on 22 Feb 1995 and a Parliamentary committee established. Perron states that the MLAs took the issue very seriously and availed themselves of the evidence presented to the committee. Perron resigned as Chief Minister before vote to avoid a sense of unfair pressure on the members of his party and resigned from parliament immediately after the Bill passed. After passage of the Bill programs were developed for doctors, nurses, the general public and specific programs to address fears among Aboriginal communities. After passage an application was made to the Governor General to disallow the laws, which was rejected by Paul Keating (an opponent of euthanasia) who declared it an issue for the Territory. A Supreme Court legal challenge was lodged and dismissed, then appealed to the High Court. Kevin Andrews introduced the Private Euthanasia Laws Bill which was passed on 25 March 1997. Perron acknowledges he thought it inconceivable that this would happen. The address finishes with a quote from NT Attorney-General Denis Burke, an opponent who voted against the legislation, that the legislation was good legislation and a true reflection of the intent of the Territory legislature.BackgroundThe Northern Territory was the first jurisdiction in the world to explicitly legalise euthanasia. The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT) entered into law on 1 July 1996. The following year the Commonwealth Parliament intervened to overturn the Act. Section 50A was added to the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 to prohibit the Northern Territory from making laws in respect of euthanasia. The Rights of the Terminally Act was in force for 9 months, during which time four people died by medically assisted suicide through its provisions.Date22/09/2006KeywordRights of the Terminally Ill Bill 1995 (NT)Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT)Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996 (Cth)Public OpinionReligionLegislationCollectionNorthern Territory Euthanasia CollectionCollection Number14-024Alternative CollectionPage 1057-1066LanguageEnglishProvenanceThe NT Euthanasia Collection contains donations from a number of contributors. This item was donated by Mr Marshall Perron.Related MaterialPlease see folder list for the NT Euthanasia CollectionCultural AdviceAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers should be aware that this collection may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.LocationArafura Research ArchivePhysical DescriptionElectronic Document - 10 Pages

PersonMarshall PerronBrendan NelsonHelga KuhseRodney SymeDavid St.L KellyMax CharlesworthRoger HuntJohn HewsonPhilip NitschkeKevin AndrewsDenis BurkePlaceNorthern TerritoryOrganisationAustralian Medical AssociationSunday TerritorianNT News

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TopicEuthanasia

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