Northern Territory leaders are urging federal politicians to give territories back the right to make their own voluntary euthanasia laws, but one ACT senator is pushing back.
The Senate is gearing up for a divisive showdown on whether to restore the power of the ACT and Northern Territory to legalise assisted dying.
Now the NT chief minister and opposition leader have joined forces in a rare show of unity, demanding senators help repeal two-decades-old laws banning territories from passing such legislation.
"It's classic Canberra bubble nonsense, at the expense of Territorians who want a say over their own lives," Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.
Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm's bill to restore this power to the ACT and Northern Territory will be debated in the upper house on Tuesday.
But ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja will vote against it.
"Make no mistake, this is not about territory rights, it's about human rights," he told Fairfax Media.
"I fear the passage of Senator Leyonhjelm's bill will lead to assisted suicide becoming legal in the ACT under a regime that will have minimal safeguards."
Senator Seselja accused the ACT government of underfunding palliative care, making a link between euthanasia and medical treatment.
"I will be standing up for the rights of Canberrans to not be pressured to end their lives," he said.
The upper house will deal solely with Senator Leyonhjelm's bill until it's voted on.
He believes the bill has enough support to get through but it will still require the approval of the lower house before becoming law - a step that looks unlikely.
Former prime minister Barnaby Joyce decline to say whether the house should debate the bill, but made his views on euthanasia clear.
"I don't support euthanasia, I think it's a very cheap form of palliative care," he told reporters in Canberra.
Senator Leyonhjelm's legislation aims to repeal Liberal MP Kevin Andrews' successful 1997 private bill banning territories from ruling on voluntary euthanasia.
Senator Leyonhjelm has said he was guaranteed a vote in both chambers in return for his support to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has denied this.
Mr Andrews says he's been assured by the government's Leader of the House, Christopher Pyne, the bill won't be voted on in the chamber.
