All Territorians urged to sign Petition EN3052
6 Aug 2021
COTA NT is making its last push to the House of Representatives regarding the repeal of Section 50A of the Self Government Act.
“COTA NT’s Petition to the House of Representatives went live on the Parliament of Australia’s website on 4th August at this location, www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN3052,” said Principal Petitioner, Sue Shearer, CEO of COTA NT. “We now have until noon on the 1st of September to accrue as many signatures as possible.
“This e-Petition is supported by a print Petition that was started on 19th February and which has also attracted hundreds of signatures. We wanted to use a two-pronged approach,” added Shearer, “We are particularly mindful that not all Territorians have easy access to the Internet. COTA NT volunteers and staff have been taking the paper Petition out to our events and workshops for over 20 weeks. This e-Petition is another way to draw attention to the discrimination that Territorians are feeling. At present we can’t even have the debate regarding assisted dying laws and we are being treated like second-class citizens.
“The Federal Member for Solomon. Luke Gosling and Andrew Leigh, Member from the ACT co-sponsored a private members’ bill to restore Territory rights in 2018. Unfortunately, this issue seems not to be regarded as important enough by the Federal Attorney-General to bring this bill forward. We urge all House of Representative members to recognise that this is not a debate about euthanasia for them, but about the Territories’ rights to make decisions for themselves.
“While Senator McMahon has also a private members’ bill in the Senate – and they will be debating this issue – this is exactly what Territorians do not want. It is not up to Canberra to debate on if the Territory should have euthanasia, it is up to Territorians. It is time for Canberra to realise that while the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are not fully-fledged states, they can make informed decisions on behalf of their residents. We want the House of Representatives to vote to repeal Section 50(A). It is straightforward.
“We urge all Territorians and Australians to sign COTA NT’s e-petition.”
Digital and paper petitions will be presented to the House of Representatives in early September.
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Sue Shearer, CEO, COTA NT 08 8941 1004
More information
E-Petition www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN3052 – 4 August to 1 September 2021
- Petition to Give Territorians Their Rights Back Gathers Momentum – 5 March 2021
- COTA NT launch Petition to allow the NT to enact laws dealing with voluntary assisted dying – 19 February 2021
- COTA NT Petition(org.au/petition) Petition to Federal Government to Repeal Section 50A of the Northern Territory (Self Government) Act 1978 to allow the NT to enact laws dealing with voluntary assisted dying.
- Petition Information to Share(includes social media tile and suggested wording for social media posts and newsletters) (www.cotant.org.au/petition/info-to-share)
- COTA NT Survey of Members 2020 – Survey of COTA NT Members aged 50 and over. 91% in support of legislation for assisted dying.
- COTA NT Survey 2018 Snapshot of Results – https://www.cotant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/COTANT2018SeniorsSurveySnapshot.pdf – Survey of 900 Territorians aged 50 and over. 78% in support legislation for assisted dying.
- COTA A State of the National Survey 2018 – Survey of 2,562 Australians aged 50 and over. 84% in support of legislation for assisted dying.
- COTA NT Election 2020 Submission – https://www.cotant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COTA-NT-Bidding-for-Senior-Territorians-2020.pdf
Other organisations:
- COTA FederationCOTA Australia (the national body), COTA (ACT), COTA (NSW), COTA (NT), COTA (QLD), COTA (SA), COTA (TAS),COTA (VIC)and COTA (WA).
- Go Gentle Australia(org.au)
- Dying with DignityACT (org.au)
- Legislating for Choice – Dying with Dignity Submission to Parliament
