Voluntary Assisted Dying a potential Queensland vote changer
One in two Queenslanders (55%) are less likely to vote for a political candidate who says they will overturn the state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying law, a new survey reveals.
Conversely, almost two-thirds (64%) said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who committed to protecting the VAD law, which has been in place since January 2023.
The research is the first to gauge voter sentiment since Conservative ‘Christian-values’ candidates vowed to repeal the VAD law if elected. On 15 October, Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter told the Townsville Bulletin, “Yes, of course I would like to see them (VAD laws) repealed”.
LNP leader David Crisafulli has refused to say how he would respond to a private member’s bill if his party were in government, prompting former LNP minister Jann Stuckey to warn the threat to VAD is “valid and real”.
“If they get the majority that I think they’re going to get, we are in really dangerous waters,” said Stuckey, who is battling recurrent pancreatic cancer.
The online survey of 1050 voters, conducted by Essential Research on behalf of charity Go Gentle Australia, also revealed 78 per cent general support for VAD, which has helped more than 1000 terminally ill Queenslanders die peacefully and compassionately.
Support for VAD was highest among women (80% support), people aged 55 and over (81%), Labor and Greens voters (both 83%) and those with no religion (88%). Sixty per cent of respondents said they would punish any candidate or party who broke a promise to protect the VAD law.
Essential Research’s Executive Director Peter Lewis said: “These results show Voluntary Assisted Dying could influence votes, particularly of older Queenslanders. There is overwhelming support - almost 8:1 which is nearly unprecedented in our polling of contested propositions.
“People supporting these measures and opposed to reversing the laws are twice as likely to say this will influence their vote. The results suggest that voters want candidates to be up front with them about their position on Voluntary Assisted Dying before election day.”
“Voluntary Assisted Dying is the sleeper issue in this election campaign,” said Andrew Denton, Go Gentle’s founding director.
“Termination of pregnancy has been the conscience issue dominating the debate, but dying is the one universal that directly impacts us all. Queenslanders fought hard for this end-of-life choice – they will not idly stand by and see that freedom taken away.”
Find out more about the threat to VAD in Queensland