Petition to Give Territorians Their Rights Back Gathers Momentum
5 Mar 2021
COTAs throughout Australia have banded together to support COTA NT and COTA ACT to repeal Section 50A of the Self Government Act.
“We would advise the Federal Attorney General to think again, and to think very carefully, about denying Australian citizens the right to choose.” Sue Shearer, CEO COTA NT
“COTA NT has also sent each and every Territory MLA a copy of our petition, so we urge Territorians to visit their local member and sign our petition,” said Sue Shearer, CEO, COTA NT.
“Other organisations such as Go Gentle Australia and Dying with Dignity have also offered support. This demonstrates that this is an Australia-wide movement to give Territorians back their rights to decide and to have end of life choices.”
COTA NT and its volunteers will be in shopping centres on Thursdays or Fridays from the week of 11th March throughout the Territory to give people the opportunity to sign the paper petition.
The petition is available at COTA offices in Darwin and Alice Springs, and those wishing to sign an e-Petition should register at cotant.org.au/petition. The petition is also available to share from the COTA NT website and people are urged to download a copy and ask supporters of the repeal to sign it.
“It was unfortunate that when the Federal Attorney General was asked about repealing Section 50A of the Self Government Act in Parliament last week, he was not at all interested,” added Shearer. “We would advise the Federal Attorney General to think again, and to think very carefully, about denying Australian citizens the right to choose.”
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Media contact: Sue Shearer, CEO, COTA NT 08 8941 1004
Further Information
- COTA NT Petition (cotant.org.au/petition) Petition to Federal Government toRepeal 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 Federation COTA Australia (the national body), COTA (ACT), COTA (NSW), COTA (NT), COTA (QLD), COTA (SA), COTA (TAS),COTA (VIC)and COTA (WA).
- Go Gentle Australia (gogentleaustralia.org.au)
- Dying with Dignity ACT (dwdact.org.au)
