THE NSW Parliament's upper house has been called out for allegedly using stalling tactics to keep the controversial Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill from passing into law.
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Wagga-based voluntary assisted dying advocate and Dying with Dignity NSW member Geoff Burch said delaying the bill, for a third time, is "inhumane" and "frustrating". "They just drag it on and on while people are suffering every day, that's what annoys me," he said.
The bill was passed in the lower house in November before progressing to the upper house, however, there are concerns not enough time has been allocated for it to be debated thoroughly.
Debate in the lower house lasted more than 25 hours, but with the upper house having allocated only private members' days for the debate - and with no private members' days set for April - the debate could take months.
Mr Burch said delaying the bill means terminally ill people will continue taking their lives in tragic ways.
If passed, the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill would allow terminally ill people in certain circumstances to choose to end their life.
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Mr Burch, whose wife Sue passed away in May last year after a years-long battle with cancer, said it is about time people had that choice.
"They don't care that people are suffering or that the majority of Australians want the legislation," he said.
Wagga's Clive Bond, who runs the Riverina Voluntary Assisted Dying Support Group, said he simply does not know if the delay is a tactic. "However, it's not unreasonable to suspect that this may be a planned ploy," he said. "There are a few Members of Parliament who have strong objections to the legislation."
Bill advocacy groups Go Gentle Australia and Dying with Dignity will rally outside Parliament House today in a bid to apply pressure.
Dying with Dignity NSW president Penny Hackett said if the upper house does not allocate additional debate time, such as sitting on Fridays, it could drag on until at least the end of the year. "In the meantime, more people will continue to die with extreme suffering and agonising pain because the government is playing games," she said.
Wagga Labor councillor Dan Hayes, who supports the VAD Bill, said the delay needs to be explained.
"It's time for politicians to get on board and do their jobs. It's very clearly just a way to drag this on longer than it needs to be," he said.
Damien Tudehope, the leader of the government in the Legislative Council, said there is more than enough time for the VAD bill to be debated.
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