The Australian Labor Party seems reluctant to repeal the Howard administration’s federal anti-euthanasia legislation, which was passed almost a decade ago, to steady antagonism from the centre-left of Australian politics.

One would expect Queensland to tow Kevin Rudd’s party line on this, and current Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has ruled out any intermediate future euthanasia reforms while she controls that state, while one more surprising opponent of euthanasia reform is Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Jon Stanhope. The Australian Capital Territory tends to be regarded as a bastion of social liberal common sense and civic responsibility in many other areas. It was the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise abortion altogether and has tried twice to introduce civil unions along the lines of Britain and New Zealand, while unfortunately being overruled by the Howard administration over that issue.

Stanhope is also currently in dispute with the Rudd administration over whether registered partnerships or civil unions are the best model for Australian lesbian and gay relationship equality to follow. (Civil unions include a ritual and ceremonial aspect that parallels marriage, registered partnerships don’t. Does it really matter which option is chosen, as long as registered partners/civilly united partners have equal substantive rights and responsibilities to straight couples who are married?)

I want to give Stanhope and Bligh the benefit of the doubt on this one. In New Zealand, there are some steadfast allies of the LGBT communities, like Jim Anderton of the Progressive Party, who oppose euthanasia law reform. As long as that stance is coupled to a commitment to providing as much access to palliative care needs and options as possible, and insuring that cost and economic inequality are not barriers to access,  then I regard that as a perfectly legitimate stance to take. Certainly, many gay PLWAs and lesbian breast cancer survivors would concur with this, given our own headaches over pharmaceutical policy and access rationing to Herceptin and new protease inhibitors (until recently).

Historically, though, the Australian Labor Party is a factionalised entity, although unity and discipline appear to be the rule under the Rudd administration. However, there are more leftist ALP factions that don’t accept the status quo, and want to press for  repeal of the federal anti-euthanasia legislation.  Moreover, given the increased profile of the Australian Greens in the context of  global warming and anti-whaling issues, they are now set to become Australia’s third party- and unlike the New Zealand Greens, decriminalisation of voluntary euthanasia is one of their frontline policies.

Given the above, I suspect Australia’s euthanasia law reform debate is far from over.