Northern Territory demands freedom to decide on assisted dying laws
The territory was Australia's first jurisdiction to legalise voluntary euthanasia but is currently banned from legislating on the issue
The Northern Territory has launched a bid to be allowed to decide its own fate on the issue of voluntary euthanasia.
Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling for federal laws to be changed to allow the issue to be considered in the NT parliament.
It follows numerous failed attempts to overturn laws introduced in 1997 banning both the ACT and the NT from ruling on euthanasia.
Voluntary assisted dying was legalised in the NT for a short period between 1996 and 1997 before the federal parliament overturned the territory’s laws and removed its powers to legislate on the issue.
