Ms Staley did say that if the bill matched the recommendations of a bi-partisan report then she would be likely to support it.

On Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that the state government will accept all 66 of the recommendations from a Ministerial Advisory Panel’s final report on Voluntary Assisted Dying.

Mr Andrews said a bill incorporating the recommendations would be introduced into Parliament “in coming months”.

The 265-page report recommended that no person be eligible for assisted dying unless they are determined to:

The panel has also recommended that patients with dementia be excluded and people would not be able to request assisted dying in advance care directives.

Ms Staley, a Liberal Party member, said she could not say for certain that she would support it she and other opposition members had not had a chance to see the bill.

“If the legislation meets what was in the original parliamentary report, which came out last year, if it reflects the recommendations, I am likely to support it,” she said.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy, like Mr Andrews, called for a “respectful debate” on whether to legalise euthanasia.

“This is one where no side has a mortgage on compassion and all Victorians, many of us, have a different point of view and now it's time to respect those points of view, put this motion through Parliament, have the debate and get on with it,” he said.

Ms Staley wrote an opinion piece for The Age in 2004 outlining her views on contentious social issues, including euthanasia.

“I am a Christian, a long-time member of the Liberal Party and I'm pro-choice, pro-stem cell research and I support the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. I'm also not alone,” Ms Staley wrote in the piece. 

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said last year that she would see the opinions of her constituents.

As of September, a majority of upper and lower house members of Parliament representing western Victoria were at least open to changing the law.

Liberal Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell, who spent 30 years working as a nurse, has said she will support the bill.

Mr Andrews has pledged to allow a conscience vote for Labor members of parliament.

“This will be the safest scheme in the world, with the most rigorous checks and balances. It means we can have a respectful debate on the principles – instead of the technicalities,” he said.

“This is about compassion and choice, and giving Victorians the support and care they deserve in their final moments.”

According to the 2015 Victorian Health Department survey, 8.6 per cent of adults in the Grampians region had been diagnosed with cancer as a chronic condition.

The Grampians region also had higher rates of daily smoking, potentially harmful alcohol consumption and obesity than in Melbourne.

The 2016 census also found that Ararat Rural City Council’s population had a substantially higher prevalence of people aged over 80 than Victoria as a whole.