Premier gags any bills or changes to abortion laws
No bill or amendments to abortion legislation will be allowed under a surprise motion put forward by a premier that blindsided MPs on all sides of the chamber.
Proposed changes to Queensland abortion laws have been gagged by the premier, leaving opposition and crossbench MPs gobsmacked.
Premier David Crisafulli put forward a motion without notice on Tuesday at the yearâs final parliamentary sitting week, that will prevent members from introducing any changes to the legislation.
Abortion was a major issue during the state election campaign, with Crisafulli repeatedly grilled on how he would guarantee there would be no changes to termination of pregnancy laws.
It became a key election issue after crossbencher Robbie Katter announced he would introduce a bill to repeal abortion laws, before walking back his proposal.
Crisafulli was asked more than 100 times about his views on abortion during the campaign, finally clarifying he was âpro-choiceâ just days before claiming victory in the October 26 poll.
You might like
He had refused to say how he would rule out any abortion law changes given his Liberal National Party allows a conscience vote on matters of life and death.
However, Crisafulli finally revealed his strategy on Tuesday, saying the motion would end âUS styleâ scare campaigns.
It will also disallow any motion or amendment seeking to have the house express its views on the termination of pregnancy act and enable the Speaker to shoot down any bills.
âIt was US style, it was grubby, and for the next four years, youâll all hang your head in shame,â Crisafulli said in parliament, accusing the opposition of an election scare campaign.
Stay informed, daily
The motion caused uproar in the parliament, with the Labor opposition accusing the premier of âgaggingâ his own MPs.
âWhat we have here today is a leader of this state so weak he cannot control his own party room, so weak he comes in here to move a motion constraining his own party room because he canât control them and cannot trust them,â opposition leader Steven Miles said.
âMake no mistake, this motion is a gag on that whole side of this house. These are extraordinary scenes.
Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick accused the premier of being âweakâ and âfrightenedâ of his own party, calling the motion an abuse of parliamentâs procedures and processes.
Katter was blindsided by the move.
âIâm absolutely gobsmacked,â the Katterâs Australian Party MP said.
âI canât get my head around this â clearly itâs targeted where weâre going to be the only party to bring something in here like this.
âWe try and do it with respect, appreciating that itâs a tricky subject for people, but we should have the right to bring something in here.â
The governmentâs mandate in parliament ensured the motion passed, with the Labor opposition and Katterâs Australian Party voting against.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
