At last week's Labor conference, which was totally under the Prime Minister's thumb, only one issue was contested on the floor: support for the use of telehealth in voluntary assisted dying (VAD) care.

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The amendment in favour passed, but Anthony Albanese later flagged he was opposed to such a move. The measure would require changing the criminal code, which prohibits using a carriage service to promote or counsel on suicide. On the conference floor, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland expressed strong concerns.

Now, hard on the heels of the conference decision, Albanese is to be put on the spot: will he respect or flout the will of what is supposed to be Labor's peak body?

Crossbencher Kate Chaney, from Western Australia, who is one of the teals, already has a private member's bill on the notice paper that would remove the ban on the use of telehealth.

Chaney has written this week to Rowland, with copies to Albanese and Tony Burke, leader of the House of Representatives, saying she will seek a suspension of standing orders to bring on her bill when Parliament resumes on Tuesday week.

"People are enduring exhausting and painful travel to access VAD. Every week this anomaly remains unaddressed is a week in which that needless suffering continues," she writes.

"The fix in my bill is simple: an amendment to the Commonwealth Criminal Code to make clear that lawful VAD care is not suicide."

Chaney refers to a related resolution the Labor conference passed, saying any decision reached on VAD "is not binding on any member of the party".

"I would ask that the government provide Labor members the opportunity of a free vote that the national conference has endorsed, for the suspension of standing orders and on the bill itself," Chaney writes, more in hope than expectation.

No doubt Labor MPs would get to exercise their consciences if Chaney's bill actually reached a vote. But solidarity will apply on any procedural votes to deal with it. The government can, if it chooses, simply shut down the move by........

© Canberra Times