Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

No, Senator Brown, you know better. As I said, quite frankly this does you a disservice. Those motions and that process are designed to deal with things that are expressions of the Senate view. If you expect the Senate to express a view on euthanasia without debate, with a one-line motion that is not even honest, I think you ought to think again because you have not treated us with respect and you have not acted in a way that brings you any credit at all. If you want to bring on a bill about euthanasia, I will vote for us having the capacity to debate it as individuals. You know this issue is a matter of conscience, that both major political parties have allowed their senators to vote on the basis of their own conscience, but you think that you can pull a stunt on a Thursday morning that somehow we are going to pass a resolution about euthanasia. As I said, it is breathtaking and it does you no credit.

No senators were consulted. Until you spoke today, I did not honestly know what was intended by this motion. Thankfully, you were honest about what you intended, but in reading the motion we would not have known that. Quite frankly, I am confirmed in my view that we should have voted no to the formality request. I am angrier now than I was before about this stunt. If you want to debate serious ethical issues, do it properly. As I said earlier today, this Senate has a good record of dealing with these things in a mature and proper way, allowing senators the respect they deserve—to articulate their views and examine issues properly. We did that with the euthanasia bill last time. I voted against the Andrews bill and I was unsuccessful, but I did that after examination of the issues, a proper debate in the Senate and a proper community debate. Stunts such as this are not appropriate and do you a disservice, Senator Brown. They treat the Senate with a total disrespect. We will not be supporting this sort of stunt. That is not the way to have a debate on euthanasia. If you want to debate euthanasia, do it properly: put up a bill, inform the public, inform the Senate and treat your fellow senators with a bit more respect.