National MPs, led by Harete Hipango, have called for euthanasia legislation to abide by the Treaty of Waitangi. Photo / Boris Jancic
National MPs, led by Harete Hipango, have called for euthanasia legislation to abide by the Treaty of Waitangi. Photo / Boris Jancic
A bid to have the Treaty of Waitangi added to a bill legalising assisted dying has fallen over hours after being announced and before ever being debated by Parliament.
Act leader David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill – which would allow terminally ill adults to request euthanasia - returned to the House on Wednesday, for the fourth in a series of lengthy debates about last-minute changes.
The bill passed its second reading in June by 70 votes to 50 and Seymour has promised a swathe of amendments before its third-and-final reading in order to secure much-needed votes.
But those against the legislation have also been proposing their own changes.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, a group of National MPs opposing the bill announced they would be lodging two amendments: one adding duties reflecting te Tiriti o Waitangi and another putting in cultural considerations as a requirement of the assisted dying process.
The Treaty amendment laid out a long list of requirements for those allowed to assist in dying, including recognising the responsibilities of whānau, hapū and iwi and for decisions to be made and implemented according to tikanga Māori.
Whanganui MP Harete Hipango, whose name is on the proposal, told reporters the Treaty was embedded in legislation covering welfare, mental health and the care of children.
Act Party leader David Seymour has accused his bill's critics of filibustering. Photo / Mark Mitchell
"It's about recognising that there is a place when it comes to the welfare and wellbeing of our vulnerable people, who are the sick and the dying, that there is a duty and responsibility of care," she said.
"[The bill] is culturally dismissive and it is unsafe," she said.
But the effort was short-lived.
About four hours after the proposal was announced, Deputy Speaker Anne Tolley - chairing the debate - ruled the changes out of order because they addressed a part of the bill already debated weeks ago.
"Therefore there will be no debate on these," Tolley said.
Despite a series of objections and questions, Tolley would not budge, but pointed out the cultural considerations amendment could have been written in such a way to get a hearing - but wasn't.
Earlier, Seymour said the Health and Disability code of rights meant all medical practioners already had to take respect for people's culture and language.
"We don't need to put those in every piece of legislation. This is just filibustering," he said.
"This bill has been debated to death over the last two years already. We've got people coming up with new amendments with less than 24 hours' notice, some of which directly contradict each other."
Seymour pointed to the scores of amendments the bill's critics have put up so far – including about two dozen on Wednesday night.
Shut down - an terrible injustice in the End of life debate tonight. With 20 SOPs not allowed to be addressed as it was closed down. Unfair to the vulnerable.
But National's Alfred Ngaro – who put forward the cultural considerations amendment – firmly rejected suggestions of stalling and said politicians would not be doing their jobs if they weren't fighting to change a bill they thought was unsafe.
"It doesn't get any more important than this. This is life and death," he said.
"We've given every effort to make sure we work to dismiss this bill, to rid this country and this nation of this bill. And if not, then we fight as hard as we can to make it as safe as possible if it goes through."
Tension between Seymour and those trying to stop the bill boiled over during the last debate, with the Act leader accusing National's Maggie Barry of taking too long to count votes, and Barry calling the speed of the debate a "terrible injustice".
Changes proposed by Seymour for this week include a ban on advanced directives for assisted dying, changes to bring reporting restrictions in line with suicide reporting laws and a rewrite of the section that would give doctors immunity from criminal liability.
Major changes already made to the bill so far include:
