Australia news live: number of Australians missing in Nepal increases to ۳۹; voluntary assisted dying now legal nation-wide

Voluntary assisted dying laws have been passed in the Northern Territory jurisdiction following debate over a gag clause barring doctors from raising end-of-life options with patients, Australian Associated Press reports.

The rights of the terminally ill bill passed on a conscience vote in the Northern Territory parliament late last night, with the gag intact.

The territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to make voluntary euthanasia legal in ۱۹۹۵, but the laws were overturned in ۱۹۹۷ by the federal government under John Howard.

All six states and the ACT have since passed their own laws allowing it.

The federal veto was only lifted in ۲۰۲۲, restoring the NT’s right to make its own assisted dying laws.

The NT bill requires that only people predicted by doctors to have ۱۲ months or less to live would have access to assisted dying.

In the NT parliament yesterday government backbencher Tanzil Rahman spoke against the gag clause that would bar healthcare professionals from initiating conversations about end-of-life options with patients.

Elderly patients could be bedridden and dying in an aged-care home in a one-clinic town and it would not be compassionate to prevent them talking to a doctor about end-of -life options, he told parliament on Thursday.

“If the facility says no, that’s it,” Rahman said.

“This cannot be a bill for the rights of the terminally ill if we restrict conversations in these premises.”

Opposition leader Selina Uibo also argued against residents of aged care institutions being denied information, saying they must be allowed to make informed choices about end-of-life options.

The small Himalayan town Keshav Kadel migrated from was not the first to be hit by the floods ravaging his native Nepal, Australian Associated Press reports.

Sitting in the Chitwan district, it is further along the Trishuli River than those more directly in the firing line, such as Gorkha and Rasuwa.

The distance afforded residents more time to flee to higher ground, but it has not been spared the dead.

“What’s happening in my town is that bodies are now flowing in the river,” he told AAP.

“They have slid all the way down and people are pulling bodies from the river.”

At least ۳۶۰ people have died and hundreds more remain unaccounted for, including ۳۹ Australians, since they began on Wednesday.

Kadel was among members of Nepalese community who gathered yesterday at the Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre at Diggers Rest north-west of Melbourne, which he serves as vice president.

Families gathered for prayers and held a minute’s silence for those lost to the floods, laying candles beside a hand-crafted display of dyed rice reading “pray for Nepal”.

The diaspora was “united in grief, hope and prayer,” secretary of the centre Sudhir Shakya told the event.

“Behind every number is a person – a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a relative, a friend, and someone deeply loved,” he said.

Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has confirmed the number of Australians missing in the devastating Nepal floods has increased overnight from ۳۵ to ۳۹.

In a statement, Wong said the government was “rapidly mobilising consular and humanitarian support in response to the catastrophic floods along the Nepal-China border, including through a $۵ million assistance package for affected communities.”

We understand at least ۳۹ Australians are among those reported missing. Australian officials are working urgently to confirm their welfare and provide assistance to those affected.

She said the government would send an initial team of three humanitarian response specialists “within the next ۴۸ hours’” to help Australian staff already on the ground.

The extraordinary scale of this disaster and the remoteness of the affected region mean immense challenges lie ahead for the response and recovery.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed the number of Australians missing in the devastating Nepal floods has increased overnight from ۳۵ to ۳۹.

Voluntary assisted dying laws have been passed in the Northern Territory jurisdiction after debate over a gag clause barring doctors from raising end-of-life options with patients.