March 19, 2024

Queensland legalises ‘assisted dying’

The Australian state of Queensland is the latest jurisdiction to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. Nearly all of Australia now has access to “assisted dying”. In due course, someone will have to study why and how Queensland, a largely rural, socially conservative state with a substantial indigenous population jumped on the bandwagon.

The final vote in the unicameral parliament was 61 top 30, so the bill passed easily. About 50 sensible amendments were proposed and debated and none of them succeeded. All this suggests that the battle was lost long ago. Why? I don’t have a clear idea. Perhaps some of our readers may.