The south-west is set to swept up in another vigorous debate on social change with bulk of western Victorian MPs backing the move to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill Victorians.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As the community votes in the postal survey on same sex marriage, a bill to legalise assisted dying was introduced to state parliament on Wednesday and is expected to go to a conscience vote later this year.
Lower House Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell and three of the Upper House Members for Western Victoria, Jaala Pulford, Gayle Tierney and James Purcell, have said they were in favour of the move.
The position of the two other Upper House Members for Western Victoria Simon Ramsay and Joshua Morris is unclear.
Mr Ramsay said he had not yet decided his position because he had yet to be briefed on the bill.
Mr Morris has not recently declared his position but last December said “as a general principle I do not support legislative change to introduce euthanasia.”
Ms Pulford, who in 2014 lost her 13-year-old daughter to cancer, said she had "learnt more about death and dying than I ever cared to. I think our laws need to change to reflect the needs of people experiencing profound suffering," she said.
Mr Purcell said that “within the right legal framework and with the correct safeguards in place” he would support the bill.
He said his position “has been strongly influenced by my wife's experiences as a nurse."