![Senators Daivd Pocock and Katy Gallagher celebrate after passing the Restoring Territory Rights bill on Thursday night. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Senators Daivd Pocock and Katy Gallagher celebrate after passing the Restoring Territory Rights bill on Thursday night. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/e44a04aa-68e2-42e7-886e-9111715b8b3e.jpg/r0_235_4066_2521_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's a moment some have waited a quarter of a century for.
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Thursday night's debate to repeal the so-called Andrews bill would decide whether Australia's two territories could legislate on voluntary assisted dying.
It represented an emotional final hurdle after 25 years for many but the answer was a resounding yes on the voices.
Despite the stakes, the chamber remained relatively timid throughout.
Proceedings kicked off with amendments by Northern Territory Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, which would tie the hands of territory governments in extending the laws to under-18s or those with disability or mental impairments.
ACT Labor senator Katy Gallagher rose to speak against the proposal, arguing those items should be a matter for the territories to decide.
"It's, in a sense, an anti-repeal amendment," she said.
![Senators Michaelia Cash, Bridget McKenzie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Senators Michaelia Cash, Bridget McKenzie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/b655fa0c-28aa-467d-bb98-0134031a9a47.jpg/r0_214_4807_2917_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Across the chamber, Coalition senators spoke of having respect for other opinions and voicing support for their Northern Territory colleague.
But Senator Price heckled Senator Gallagher's response, laughing when the senior Labor minister described territory parliaments as "mature".
Watching on from the public gallery was ACT chief minister Andrew Barr, along with his political foe, Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee.
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The two will now need to steer their parties toward passing the legislation in the Legislative Assembly.
A brief stoush occurred between Greens senator David Shoebridge and Labor senator Deborah O'Neil, who voted against the bill, after the latter questioned legal advice he quoted, which warned of "serious" repercussions.
But otherwise, most senators refrained from raising the temperature of the debate.
Outside the halls of power, in a leafy senate courtyard, advocates who had a personal stake in the vote's passing arrived in anticipation of the probable good news.
Samuel Whitsed was always broadly supportive of returning the right to legislate on the matter for the territory.
Twelve months ago, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer and was told it was terminal.
![Samuel Whitsed at Parliament House on Thursday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Samuel Whitsed at Parliament House on Thursday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/563b4a6f-bacb-4c2b-961b-60bdda08b2f0.jpg/r0_281_5500_3385_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He said he was "quite proud" to be watching on the gallery during an historic moment.
"People that haven't even been born yet will benefit from this change," Mr Whitsed said.
"It's a choice - if you're against it, don't choose it. But don't take the choice away from everyone else."
Earlier on Thursday afternoon, ACT senator David Pocock - a strong supporter of repealing the bill during his short time in power - joined Sam Delaney, an advocate who has been fighting to repeal the bill for half a decade.
Mr Delaney's mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2012 with no treatment options. She died in 2019.
Unlike others, he said he wouldn't be able to watch the debate.
It's been considered a battle of science and faith but Mr Delaney said he saw neither of those things present.
![Sam Delaney at Parliament House on Thursday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Sam Delaney at Parliament House on Thursday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/b5ce6852-ac5d-4b89-8087-897bff8fd404.jpg/r0_208_5500_3312_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I take my hat off to people who've been around this for 25 years, because I've only been doing it five years and it makes me furious," he said.
"These people have gotta understand that by the time we are at the end of terminal illness, science and religion have left the building."
The Senate sat on Thursday night, the bill passing shortly before 8pm. A final vote wasn't counted, the ayes victorious on voices alone.
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