Page 2159 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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It remains my greatest frustration that, despite such pressure from us—arguably more pressure than has ever been put before—the ban on us being able to legislate continues to persist. It is not something that we have seen changed in this ACT parliamentary term. So, tonight, in what is my penultimate adjournment speech for this parliamentary term, I want to state on the record that I commit myself to not giving up on this issue. And whether I am re-elected or not, I promise to keep working hard, to keep prosecuting this issue and to keep putting the pressure on our federal politicians until this gets changed.
I intended to leave it there but, with regret, I need to draw something to the chamber’s attention. Members will recall that in November last year we unanimously agreed to a motion regarding territory rights. It called on all ACT Legislative Assembly party leaders to write to their federal counterparts before the end of 2019, requesting that those federal counterparts commit to removing the clauses that ban us.
At the time, the opposition leader said:
I am open to considering such a letter as proposed in paragraph (5)(b). It will, of course, very much depend on what is included in that letter and whether it will be a political statement or whether it will be something far more meaningful.
I responded gratefully because I believed him. I said that I genuinely noted Mr Coe’s openness to this. I said:
He can be assured that I will be following up with him, and I will work collaboratively with him to get this done.
Taking his comments in good faith, I wrote to him. I even drafted some suggestions for him to put in his own letter, which I thought were very reasonable. I did not get a response. As promised, I followed up. I did not get a response to that either. I note that the Chief Minister and Minister Rattenbury wrote to their federal counterparts, and that in December 2019—I think it was 22 December—eight or nine days before the end of the year, Mr Coe told the Canberra Times that he would write soon. He has never been forthcoming that he did. And even when I asked today, over social media, there was silence. We can only assume, then, that he did not.
This morning on 666 radio he would not give a straight answer when asked if he supported territory rights. The question was not about voluntary assisted dying itself, where his position is very clear—I am not debating that—but about territory rights. He said, “If the ACT is granted this, then it is up to the Assembly to decide, but I am not seeking to progress euthanasia in the ACT.” We need leadership on this issue. We actually need united political pressure. We do not need equivocation and we do not need someone agreeing that they will do something and just not doing it. In November last year, Mr Coe called repeatedly for respect around this debate, but in his deception he has disrespected me, he has disrespected the chamber and he has disrespected Canberrans.
The Assembly adjourned at 7.12 pm until Thursday, 27 August 2020, at 9.30 am.
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