"I certainly agree that palliative care in the Northern Territory, prior to the introduction of this legislation, was deficient. I accept responsibility for that, having been Chief Minister for a number of years up until that time.

" I further confess that I was unfamiliar with what the term 'palliative care' really meant at that stage, and I think that is probably true of many of my colleagues in parliament and certainly true of much of the community."

I believe that with the advent of the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, and for as long as it stays on foot even if it does not stay on foot there will continue to be a high level of knowledge of and focus on palliative care in the Northern Territory, even though because of our sheer population we will be unlikely to have the sorts of facilities that are available in much bigger, better resourced states.