One of the WA Liberals’ staunchest pro-life advocates Nick Goiran has brushed aside internal party concerns that abortion will flare up as a state election issue as he prepares to speak alongside some of the pro-life movement’s most controversial figures in Sydney.
Goiran will speak at the National Life Summit next month, organised by South Australian anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe alongside Katter’s Australian Party MP Robbie Katter.
Liberal upper house MP Nick Goiran.Credit: Nathan Hondros
The anti-abortion stance of several Queensland Liberal MPs was thrust into the state’s recent election campaign after Katter vowed to introduce a private members bill to wind back abortion laws in the sunshine state. The Queensland Liberal’s poor handling of the issue was credited with reducing Labor’s expected haemorrhaging of votes in metro Brisbane seats.
A WA Liberal insider not authorised to speak publicly said the party was worried a similar abortion debate could flare up in WA and drown out the Liberals’ efforts to focus on other areas like cost of living and justice.
Another senior Liberal source who also spoke on condition of anonymity said that concern was overblown but conceded socially conservative Liberal members and candidates were emboldened by Donald Trump’s recent US election win, and more right-wing policy areas could emerge as election issues.
In an email ahead of the summit Goiran and Katter are listed as “leading pro-life politicians” speaking at the event which will also feature “stories of young Australians who have been touched, in some way, by the trauma of abortion.”
It’d be strange if I didn’t attend, right?
Nick Goiran
Goiran, who has a long history of anti-abortion advocacy in parliament, said it was a long bow to draw to suggest his attendance at this event would be a trigger for abortion becomming an election issue.
“I don’t think it’s that complicated. I’ve been invited to a conference organised by a pro-life organisation, and as I have done consistently for 15 years of parliament when I’m available, I attend these things,” he said.
“It’d be strange if I didn’t attend, right? I mean, the only reason I wouldn’t attend something is if I had a clash with something else.”
Major reforms to WA’s abortion laws, including decriminalising the practice and increasing the gestational period at which more requirements apply to get an abortion from 20 weeks to 23 weeks were passed in parliament in September last year.
Goiran voted against that bill along with three other Liberal upper house MPs and Labor upper house MP Kate Doust.
Goiran has attended The Coalition of the Defence of Human Life rally held outside Parliament House for the past 15 years.
When asked whether he thought his party would take up abortion if elected into government next March he said he no serious political observer would suggest the WA laws would change in this generation.
“We’ve just had a massive debate on a year ago. What has suddenly changed in that period of time?” he said.
“I can’t imagine anyone is genuinely concerned about this in terms of the law being changed.”
Mettam said: “As Nick has acknowledged, we will not be changing the laws passed last year.”
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