Euthanasia approved in watershed for Australia

An Australian state parliament has legalised voluntary euthanasia 20 years after the country repealed the world’s first mercy-killing law for the terminally ill.

The final vote in the Victorian parliament yesterday means that doctor-assisted suicide will be allowed in Australia’s second-most populous state from mid2019.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who became a euthanasia advocate after his father died of cancer last year, said the reform showed compassion.

“This is a day that I’m very proud to have made this reform and ... delivered the sort of leadership that all Victorians can be proud of,” he said. The parliament of Australian’s most populous state, New South Wales, rejected a doctorassisted suicide bill two weeks ago by a single vote.