Health Minister Jill Hennessy dropped the c-bomb in a fiery text message sent to a Labor colleague, as tensions flared during an overnight debate on euthanasia laws.
Ms Hennessy called Deputy Premier James Merlino a ‘c***’ in a text message sent to him by mistake on Wednesday night, numerous parliamentary sources confirmed.
Mr Merlino, a fierce opponent to the government’s bid to legalise a strictly monitored euthanasia scheme, had proposed an amendment which would have killed off the bill, long championed as a flagship policy by Labor.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy called Deputy Premier James Merlino a ‘c***’ in a text message sent to him by mistake on Wednesday night
The text message came as as tensions flared during an overnight debate on euthanasia laws. Mr Merlino (pictured) is a fierce opponent to the government’s bid to legalise a strictly monitored euthanasia scheme
The amendment was narrowly defeated and it’s understood Mr Merlino is angry about the text message from his colleague.
His office declined to comment on the matter.
A spokeswoman for Ms Hennessy wasn’t giving anything away.
‘The minister doesn’t comment on private conversations,’ she told AAP.
The text message came as Victoria’s lower house continued to debate the Labor government’s controversial assisted dying bill on Friday morning.
After an all-night session in parliament spent discussing several amendments, MPs adjourned for a short time before debate resumed at 6am.
The proposed laws state that terminally ill people with less than 12 months to live and who are suffering unbearable pain would be able to request lethal medication.
There are hundreds of disputed amendments to the bill, which has been backed by Premier Daniel Andrews.
Victoria’s lower house continued to debate the Labor government’s controversial assisted dying bill on Friday morning (stock image)
Meanwhile, former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has weighed into the euthanasia debate, saying the Victorian bill is ‘unacceptable’.
‘Under Victorian law there will be people whose lives we honour and those we believe are better off dead,’ he wrote in an opinion pieced in Fairfax Media.
‘No matter what justifications are offered for the bill, it constitutes an unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence and the irrevocable sanctity that should govern our understanding of what it means to be human.’
Tensions within Victoria’s Labor government over the assisted dying bill have been running hot.
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has weighed into the euthanasia debate, saying the Victorian bill is ‘unacceptable’