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Speaker 1: As we know, the Senate is currently considering removing a

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Speaker 1: federal veto that prevents the Act and the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: from debating euthanasia laws. Yesterday in the Senate, a Victorian

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Speaker 1: senator who voted against Territorians being able to legislate for

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Speaker 1: euthanasia four years ago says her father's death has changed

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Speaker 1: her mind on the practice now. Jane Hume had previously

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Speaker 1: opposed giving the Act and the Northern Territory the right

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Speaker 1: to legalize euthanasia, but yesterday she said that the passing

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Speaker 1: of her father under a sister dying laws had changed

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Speaker 1: her mind. Now joining me on the line to give

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Speaker 1: us an update on where the situation's at with this

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Speaker 1: legislation is the Senator for the Northern Territory, Melanderie McCarthy.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Senator.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, and good morning to all your listener.

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Speaker 3: Now, Melandari.

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Speaker 1: Yesterday we heard from senators around the nation speaking about

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Speaker 1: this legislation.

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Speaker 3: And the impact that it could have. From all accounts,

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Speaker 3: it sounds as though it was a pretty raw debuate.

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Speaker 2: Look, this discussion has been exactly that, Kate, in terms

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Speaker 2: of the last sittings and this one that senators are

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Speaker 2: getting up and speaking from their personal points of view

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Speaker 2: in terms of territory rights. I've certainly encouraged senators to

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Speaker 2: just support the fact that the people of the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory and the Act should never feel less Australian than

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Speaker 2: all the others in the states, in the respective states

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Speaker 2: that they represent, and to please support the Territory Rights Bill.

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Speaker 1: Now I understand, like you've just touched on, you did

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Speaker 1: stand to argue that territory and should not be denied

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Speaker 1: rights that are given to other Australians. What has sort

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Speaker 1: of been I guess you know the discussion and the

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Speaker 1: viewpoints of senators from around the nation. Do you think

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Speaker 1: that this is going to get across the line?

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Speaker 2: I have a lot of hope this time around, Katie.

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Speaker 2: I think that there are more senators who've had experiences

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Speaker 2: since the previous debate, which was more than almost four

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Speaker 2: years ago in terms of David Lyinhelm and then of

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Speaker 2: course Sam McMahon had tried to bring it on as well.

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Speaker 2: So since then people have excuse me, senators have sort

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Speaker 2: of started to change their minds. More have come our way.

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Speaker 2: A few others are still unsure. I am hopeful though

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Speaker 2: that by the time we do get to vote on

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Speaker 2: this bill, which obviously won't be this time because we've

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Speaker 2: now concluded for this session, but hopefully in October or

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Speaker 2: November the latest, but definitely before the end of the year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So what is the process now?

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Speaker 2: The process now really is that everyone has gone back

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Speaker 2: or is going back to where their respective areas. Parliament

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Speaker 2: has concluded, and we'll be back for the budget sittings

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Speaker 2: towards the end of October, and budget will come that

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Speaker 2: week of Parliament and then we go into Senate estimates.

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Speaker 2: So I expect that we possibly won't go to a

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Speaker 2: vote until November.

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Speaker 1: Right, because I know that Senator Penny Wong had said

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Speaker 1: that she really did want this to happen before Christmas.

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Speaker 3: Are you confident that it will?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, I have no doubt that we will definitely

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Speaker 2: want to put this to a vote before we end

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Speaker 2: parliamentary settings at the end of the year.

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Speaker 1: And Melan deary, I know that you said that obviously,

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Speaker 1: you know this sort of doesn't come down to people's

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Speaker 1: personal views. I know that a lot of people did

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Speaker 1: stand up in Parliament sort of talk about their personal views.

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Speaker 1: But from your perspective as our Senator for the Northern.

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Speaker 3: Territory, why should this get across the line.

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Speaker 2: Look, I've been a passionate advocate for territory rights on

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Speaker 2: every level. I think that the Northern Territory deserves an

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Speaker 2: equal status and that you know, I do want to

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Speaker 2: see us become a state. I do think that we

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Speaker 2: need to mature and grow, and we are doing that

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Speaker 2: and we carry the rest of the country in so

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Speaker 2: many respects with what we have here, whether it's the

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Speaker 2: live catile export industry, whether it's our fishing industry, and

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Speaker 2: certainly our resources industry. We pull our weight and we

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Speaker 2: certainly showed that through COVID when we're also able to

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Speaker 2: through our ozmat team show on a medical level how

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Speaker 2: we can do it here in the Northern Territory and

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Speaker 2: we have the expertise. So I want to see that

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Speaker 2: equality there for us on every level. And this is

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Speaker 2: why this is important to me. I'd like to just

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Speaker 2: also express so Okatie, I stood up and spoke personally too.

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Speaker 2: You know, twenty five years ago when it came through

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory Parliament. You know that the bills

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Speaker 2: that I you know, I'm not personally supportive of voluntary

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Speaker 2: sister dying. I feel from a cultural perspective and a

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Speaker 2: personal perspective that that's you know, that's an issue that

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Speaker 2: I personally cannot agree with, but I don't ever want

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Speaker 2: to see the Northern Territory people stopped from debating and

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Speaker 2: making a decision of the their own And that's why

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Speaker 2: I'm supporting this bill.

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Speaker 1: I think that's a really important point to make. And

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Speaker 1: I know that there will be people listening this morning

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Speaker 1: that don't necessarily agree with voluntary assisted dying, and everybody

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Speaker 1: has their own reasons behind whether they do or do not.

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Speaker 1: But in my opinion, just as you've said, you know,

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Speaker 1: this is about Territorians being able to make that decision

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Speaker 1: for themselves exactly.

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Speaker 2: And I stood up in the Parliament and said, you know,

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Speaker 2: if this bill gets across and we do have the

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Speaker 2: right to debate this in the Northern Territory and the

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Speaker 2: Act Parliament, and I'll probably be one of the first

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Speaker 2: people that will be knocking on the doors of politicians

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Speaker 2: in the NT and saying, you know, I'd like you

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Speaker 2: to vote against it if you bring it into the parliament.

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Speaker 2: So you know, and that's democracy, that's Westminster system of democracy,

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Speaker 2: which I think is absolutely wonderful that we can make

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Speaker 2: our decisions and vote on these things, but the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory again is unable to and I will fight fiercely

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Speaker 2: for the people of the Northern Territory to have that right.

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Speaker 1: So before I let you go this morning, I know

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Speaker 1: that you are pressed for time, but I do want

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Speaker 1: to ask. We know that thousands of Australians are going

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Speaker 1: to begin moving off the controversial cash List debit card

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Speaker 1: from next week after amended legislation to abolish the card

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Speaker 1: pass the Senate throughout this week.

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Speaker 3: Now, Senator, how quickly.

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Speaker 1: Will people come off the card here in the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory or are they coming off that card in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Well, in the Northern Territory we have over twenty two

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Speaker 2: thousand people on the Basics card, which is a separate card,

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Speaker 2: and in terms of the Cashist debit card, we have

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Speaker 2: around four thousand people on that card and they certainly

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Speaker 2: have the option to go off it if they choose,

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Speaker 2: or if they don't, they can certainly have assistance with

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Speaker 2: social services to work out financial planning and what they'd

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Speaker 2: like to do going forward. I guess our point of

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Speaker 2: the Cashi's Debit Card, Katie, was to not have it

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Speaker 2: a compulsory decision where people were pulsorily made to go

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Speaker 2: on to income management. That's a little bit different with

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Speaker 2: the Basics Card, of course, and I think what we

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Speaker 2: do now is two things. Is we've obviously got to

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Speaker 2: reach out to those people who are on the Basics

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Speaker 2: Card and that's around over seventeen thousand across Australia to

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Speaker 2: let them know what their process is. That's what we

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Speaker 2: have to do immediately, and what I have to do,

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Speaker 2: and certainly you know the representatives of the territory have

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Speaker 2: to do, is inform the people on the Basics Card

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Speaker 2: that at some point we want to have a conversation

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Speaker 2: with them about how they feel with their particular card

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Speaker 2: and how they see the future. That has never been

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Speaker 2: done for the time I've been in the Senate in

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Speaker 2: the last six years, and I would like to see

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Speaker 2: that now that the families of the Northern Territory have

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Speaker 2: an opportunity to express what they want to see happen

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Speaker 2: with the Basics Card.

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Speaker 1: Do you have any concerns about these changes and what

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Speaker 1: they might mean for vulnerable Territori and so I guess

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Speaker 1: you know, to some they would argue that the whole

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Speaker 1: reason that this scheme was put in place was to

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Speaker 1: make sure that you know, people weren't being bullied, I guess,

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Speaker 1: to have their money taken off them, or that money

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Speaker 1: wasn't being wasted on things like alcohol and gambling.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I'm certainly very aware of it and have been

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Speaker 2: sent even the introduction of the Basics card in two

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Speaker 2: thousand and seven within the intervention. But the problem here, Katie,

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Speaker 2: is that the previous government had the opportunity to provide

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Speaker 2: support around drug and alcohol, around homelessness, around family violence.

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Speaker 2: They had nearly fifty million dollars to support and have

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Speaker 2: wrap around services, which they failed to do and as

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Speaker 2: a result, they made a flawed card even worse. And

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Speaker 2: we had no choice because this particular legislation around the

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Speaker 2: cash's debit card was sun setting on the thirty first

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Speaker 2: of December and there was no plan going forward. And

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Speaker 2: so we've moved to go forward with our policy that

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Speaker 2: we took to the election, and that was to remove

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Speaker 2: anything around the compulsory nature of the cash debit card.

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Speaker 2: We will then proceed to work on the basics card.

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Speaker 1: Now, I know that the top end Women's Legal Services

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Speaker 1: told the ABC this morning that there needs to be

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Speaker 1: more consultation about what comes next. Is this something that

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Speaker 1: the government is focused on here making sure that those

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Speaker 1: meetings and that those consultations do take place.

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Speaker 2: Look, the top end Legal Service, Women's Legal Service, is

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Speaker 2: absolutely correct, and all those stakeholders have already begun to

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Speaker 2: ring my office. I'm very conscious of the fact that

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Speaker 2: we need to communicate this messaging and I certainly encourage

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Speaker 2: people to contact my office and also Marin Scrimdur and

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Speaker 2: Loop Gosling, because we want to make sure that people

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Speaker 2: are aware of what the next steps are.

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Speaker 1: Well, Melan Dearie McCarthy, the Senator for the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: the Labor Party's Senator for the Northern Territory. I appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks so much for speaking with us.

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Speaker 2: You're no words guy, do you thank you