Premier Jay Weatherill has revealed that his grandfather “begged” a doctor to end his life, while making an impassioned speech to state Parliament on voluntary euthanasia laws.

Mr Weatherill said MPs must “find a way” to pass laws which give people “genuine choice” about what happens at the end of their life.

He told MPs and a packed public gallery about his grandfather, who had been injured in World War II.

“I remember one of the earliest stories my father told me about his father ... was of him, as a young boy, peeking through a crack in the doorway where he witnessed his father, on his knees, begging the doctor to end his life,” Mr Weatherill said.

“This is not an uncommon set of circumstances where people are suffering gravely and are seeking relief and presently, the law prevents people from supplying that relief.

“I can see little point in forcing extremely ill people to needlessly endure pain that is clearly not going to stop until it consumes them completely.