Terminally ill people in NSW will now be able to choose the timing of their death after a historic vote in state parliament legalised voluntary assisted dying.
Five years after it was first debated in parliament, NSW on Thursday became the final state in Australia to introduce assisted dying laws.
Assisted dying laws have passed NSW parliament, being introduced by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.Credit:Brook Mitchell
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich introduced the bill to parliament late last year, with Coalition and Labor MPs granted a free vote.
Greenwich told parliament that the “entire diversity” of the parliament were involved in passing the bill, with 28 co-sponsors from across all parties – the highest number of any bill in Australian parliamentary history.
However, an opponent of the bill, Finance Minister Damien Tudehope, told the upper house that it was a “dark day” for NSW as it joined the rest of the country in accepting assisted dying laws.
“It was a sad day because it was an opportunity for NSW to say ‘we can be better than this’,” Tudehope said.
Tudehope said the decision of the NSW parliament would be judged by history as a “dreadful mistake”.
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Voluntary assisted dying legalised in NSW
Source: Philippines Alive
