Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Solomon Luke Gosling hopes the NT Government will devise adequate protections for vulnerable people when it legislates on voluntary assisted dying

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Member for Solomon Luke Gosling hopes the NT Government will devise adequate protections for vulnerable people when it legislates on voluntary assisted dying · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is indeed the
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  Speaker 1: co sponsor for the Restoring the Territory Rights Bill, Luke Gosling,
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Luke.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How are you? Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: Really well, Luke? An historic day for the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? It really is. I mean it's been a quarter
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  Speaker 2: of a century since our laws are overturned by the Commonwealth,
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  Speaker 2: and repealing the Andrews Bill last night in the Senate,
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  Speaker 2: I think we are saying to the whole country the
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  Speaker 2: territory and deserves the same democratic rights as everyone else.
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  Speaker 1: Look, you and I have spoken about this on a
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  Speaker 1: lot of occasions. It feels as though we've spoken about
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  Speaker 1: about this bill and about voluntary assisted dying laws on
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  Speaker 1: so many occasions over the years that I sort of
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  Speaker 1: wondered whether the day would ever arrive. Did you feel
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  Speaker 1: the same.
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  Speaker 2: I did as she went over into the Senate with
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  Speaker 2: Marion Scrimjaw to listen to the debate, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: part of us were going, are you kidding me? Let
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  Speaker 2: people are still trying to oppose this and really trying
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  Speaker 2: to advance the agenda that we weren't capable of investigating
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  Speaker 2: an issue, looking at what else has done elsewhere, consulting
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  Speaker 2: with our communities. And I thought NC Senator Melandirra McCarthy
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  Speaker 2: had a really powerful speech there where she actually drew
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  Speaker 2: on some of the speeches from twenty five years ago
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  Speaker 2: when I was debated in the Marshall par and Sealp
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  Speaker 2: government and from both sides of the argument. And I
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  Speaker 2: think that was a bit of an eye opener for
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  Speaker 2: people as well. They were both First Nations MLAs and
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  Speaker 2: I think that sort of opened people's eyes a little
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  Speaker 2: bit too, the hey, you know, we're quite capable of
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  Speaker 2: that having this conversation for ourselves. Thanks, so get out
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  Speaker 2: of the way and let us let us resume business
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  Speaker 2: and however it may turn out.
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  Speaker 1: And I understand that well, and we're due to catch
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  Speaker 1: up with him this morning as well. But I understand
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  Speaker 1: that former COLP Chief Minister Marshall Perrin was there last
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  Speaker 1: night in the gallery watching as this unfolded. And he
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  Speaker 1: was indeed the Chief Minister at the time when these
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  Speaker 1: laws were initially put in place.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was, Katie, and I've got to know him
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  Speaker 2: over the last couple of years. You'll remember when I
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  Speaker 2: first tried to get a bill through unsuccessfully under the
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  Speaker 2: previous coalition federal government. So since then I've been sort
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  Speaker 2: of talking with him along the way, and he was
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  Speaker 2: up there and you know, as a few people spoke
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  Speaker 2: spoke against this bill, he sort of dropped his head
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  Speaker 2: a couple of times and you could just see him like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: we're still in this position. But we were all hopeful,
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  Speaker 2: we were confident that we would get the numbers. And
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  Speaker 2: I think he would have slept well last night.
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  Speaker 1: Now I know that the Act Chief Minister Andrew Barr
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  Speaker 1: revealed that the Act is going to look to legislate
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  Speaker 1: voluntary assisted dying within as soon as twelve months. He said,
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  Speaker 1: we'll have a thorough and engaged process and it will
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  Speaker 1: be a conscience vote. I think it will bring out
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  Speaker 1: the best in the Act Parliament, is what he said.
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  Speaker 1: We know that here in the Northern Territory, the Attorney
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  Speaker 1: General Chancey Paik was on the week that was with
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  Speaker 1: us this morning and confirmed that they're not going to
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  Speaker 1: rush to push this forward. It's not going to happen
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  Speaker 1: before the next Northern Territory election because they do want
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  Speaker 1: to make sure that there's extensive consultation. What do you
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  Speaker 1: think should happen here in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we absolutely need extensive consultation and obviously the timing
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  Speaker 2: of any drafting of legislation once there's been sufficient consultation
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  Speaker 2: as a matter for the NT government, and I think,
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  Speaker 2: you know, there'll be a balancing of community expectations of
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  Speaker 2: the debate. I just really hope the debate is respectful,
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  Speaker 2: that people get to have their say, because, after all,
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  Speaker 2: these are really deeply personal issues when it comes to
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  Speaker 2: matters at the end of life, and as you and
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  Speaker 2: I have spoken about a fair bit coady in the past,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I've got my reservations and I'll be looking
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  Speaker 2: to see that particularly vulnerable people in our community are protected,
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  Speaker 2: and there were some in the Federal Parliament even last
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  Speaker 2: night it was still trying to make those decisions for us.
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  Speaker 2: But it's clear that we've been successful. After twenty five years,
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  Speaker 2: we've regained the right of the territory to make our
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  Speaker 2: own decision and that's a great thing and another thing.
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  Speaker 1: We were able to do.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, you know, there was an argument put forward
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  Speaker 2: last night that the Act is very different to the
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  Speaker 2: NT in terms of its size and isolated remote communities,
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  Speaker 2: but WA have legislated. They're actually bigger in land masks
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  Speaker 2: than the NT and they've got remote indigenous communities as
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  Speaker 2: well as is Queensland. So you know, unlike marshall parents
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  Speaker 2: government twenty five years ago, we're not breaking new ground here.
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  Speaker 2: There's established legislation we can see. We want Wealth's best
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  Speaker 2: practice that protects our vulnerable people. But you know, makes
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  Speaker 2: a decision that reflects what the people of the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory wants and that's our job. We've done our bit
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  Speaker 2: down here to enable the Legisltive Assembly to have its
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  Speaker 2: both in due course. So it's over to the NT government.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Luke Gosling remember for Solomon. We appreciate your time
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  Speaker 1: and you appreciate you having a chat with me today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Codie, thank you,