A look ahead at the big-ticket items set to shape Queensland in 2021
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Governor Paul de Jersey opened Queensland s 57th Parliament in November 2020.
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Queensland s newly elected 57th Parliament is not due back in the house until the last week of February and if you re thinking that s one heck of a Christmas break, you would be correct.
Key points:
These will target domestic violence, euthanasia, sexual assault, plastics and coronavirus
Queensland s parliament will reconvene after the Christmas break in February
While it is customary for the Queensland Parliament to take January off, parliament usually does sit much earlier in February and sometimes even twice in that month.
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Subscriber only As most Australians look to the new year ahead, Carina woman Tanya Battel s goal is to give suffering Queenslanders, including herself, the opportunity to die peacefully, on their own terms. The 57-year-old mother of two wants a perscription for peace of mind after battling chronic cancer for the past 25 years, and after she was told it was incurable in 2016, had made plans to take her own life by legal assisted suicide at a time before her quality of life deteriorates. She initially considered packing up everything and moving down to Victoria when voluntary euthanasia legislation was introduced there, so that she could meet the residency requirement.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is under increasing pressure to follow other states in introducing voluntary assisted dying laws with a new poll showing more than 70 per cent of NSW voters supported such a move. Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich is working with Coalition, Opposition and crossbench MPs on introducing a bill next year that would legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill. The bill will be modelled on WA legislation but also be informed by the findings of the Queensland Law Reform Commission, which is working on a legal framework ahead of the introduction of the State s own assisted dying laws. Other states to have legalised assisted dying include Victoria,
Queensland assisted dying laws given delayed due date
By Naomi Neilson|20 December 2020
The Queensland government was confident it could deliver assisted dying legislation early next year, but its Attorney-General recently confirmed that the due date for the new laws would be given an extension to ensure it is workable.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flagged introducing the legislation in early 2021 on the proviso that Labor won the election but despite her retaining the seat for another term, the law’s due date has been pushed back to June. Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman confirmed the Queensland Law Reform Commission would weigh in prior.
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