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A Pastoral Guideline on Voluntary Assisted Dying in light of the implementation of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Act (2022)

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A Pastoral Letter to the Parish of Chatswood
On the National Referendum of 14 October 2023
Fr David Ranson PP

In several weeks’ time, on 14 October 2023, we will participate in a national Referendum to determine a change, or otherwise, to the Constitution that underpins our national life. As with any proposal for constitutional change, this is an opportunity for us all to reflect on our national identity, and the type of democracy we wish. As we appreciate, there have been 44 Referenda over the course of our 123-year history as a nation, the last being in 1999. Only eight of them have introduced change. The Australian people have most often chosen to preserve the status quo in constitutional affairs.
Given that the forthcoming Referendum concerns First Peoples – those who first had sovereignty of the land, who were dispossessed by colonisation, and who continue to be burdened in diverse ways by its implications – it is an especially important plebiscite. The last Referendum that directly involved those with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage was in 1967. Over 90% of voters chose to amend the Constitution in such a way, effectively, to include Aboriginal people in a ‘reckoning of the population.’

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