Northern Territory Euthanasia Collection – Letter to Marshall Perron from Brendan O'Connor MP, 30 September 2011
Alternative collection title
Page 1352-1353
Date range (approx.)
30 Sep 2011
Scope and contents
The Minister for Home Affairs writes to Mrs Marshall Perron in response to a letter she sent to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. O'Connor outlines the current legal status of euthanasia in Australia including the distribution of suicide-related material under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). He then discusses two Private Senator's Bills inroduced by Bob Brown. The Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 would remove the power of the Commonwealth to disallow or amend legislation passed by the Territories. The second Bill, the Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) Bill 2010 seeks to repeal provisions of the various Self-Governing Acts and restore the right for Territories to legislate on euthanasia.
Record Type
Correspondence
Physical description
Electronic Document - 2 Pages
Language
English
Language code
eng
Collection created by
Marshall Perron
Biographical history
The Northern Territory was the first jurisdiction in the world to explicitly legalise euthanasia. The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT) entered into law on 1 July 1996. The following year the Commonwealth Parliament intervened to overturn the Act. Section 50A was added to the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 to prohibit the Northern Territory from making laws in respect of euthanasia. The Rights of the Terminally Act was in force for 9 months, during which time four people died by medically assisted suicide through its provisions.
Provenance
The NT Euthanasia Collection contains donations from a number of contributors. This item was donated by Mr Marshall Perron.
Subjects
Voluntary Euthanasia Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) Bill 2010 (Cth) Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment Bill 2011
Names (person)
Marshall Perron Brendan O'Connor
Places
Northern Territory Australian Capital Territory Norfolk Island
Box list available?
n/a
Item list available?
n/a
Conditions governing access
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers should be aware that this collection may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.
Related material
Please see folder list for the NT Euthanasia Collection (link below)
Location
Arafura Research Archive
Institution
Charles Darwin University, Darwin
Description for Link
Folder list for NT Euthanasia Collection [CDU Arafura Research Archive]
