Rebel MPs call off motion to remove Berejiklian as Premier
The first amendment to the abortion bill has passed the upper house, meaning the legislation will have to return to the lower house for further debate.
NSW
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The first amendment to the abortion bill has passed the upper house, meaning the legislation will have to return to the lower house for further debate.
Liberal MLC Taylor Martin introduced an amendment to change the name of the Reproductive Health Care Reform Act to the Abortion Law Reform Act.
It passed 33 votes in favour to seven against.
Shooters Fishers & Farmers leader Robert Borsak was among those who supported the amendment, saying it would be “underhanded and misleading” to call it anything other than an abortion bill.
Upper house members will debate a total 32 amendments – 12 were lodged an hour before the Legislative Council was due to sit.
Liberal MLC Shayne Mallard, who has taken charge of the debate, said it was a “highly complicated set of amendments”.
Earlier, Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the “laughable” effort by three rogue MPs to challenge Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s leadership last night then pull out before a party room meeting this morning was “ridiculous”.
Liberal MPs Tanya Davies, Matthew Mason-Cox and Lou Amato released a statement this morning confirming they would not proceed with the motion, which they first announced they would move late last night.
“I think they (the three rogue MPs) lit a bunger this morning and it fizzled out,” Mr Constance said.
“They are entitled to their view, I wish they’d focus on the issue at hand rather than the politics around this ... but what an incredible endorsement of Glad (Gladys Berejiklian) overnight, the entire Cabinet has come out, and most members of government have come out and said – this is ridiculous, back in your box, and let’s get on with it.”
Mr Constance said Ms Berejiklian’s leadership was never threatened by the failed coup attempt.
“They didn’t really threaten the premiership of the leader – look at what happened, I mean seriously, it’s just laughable,” he said.
“So we are back at work, we’ve had our meeting this morning and they didn’t press any button, because quite frankly, they knew that there were only three of them.”
Mr Constance said he was hopeful the abortion bill will be resolved by the Upper House this week.
“You’ve got to remember the lower house passed this legislation two to one, 59-31 – that’s overwhelming,” he said.
“We will see hopefully a conclusion of this debate this week and for those three MPs – back to work.”
Ms Davies did not speak to Ms Berejiklian this morning and the premier has made no promises that concessions will be made on the abortion legislation.
The Daily Telegraph has confirmed Ms Davies texted Ms Berejiklian this morning and placed two calls which went unanswered.
The pair have not spoken today and no promises were made about the legislation.
Several senior ministers have told The Daily Telegraph they did not believe new concessions were being made, but Ms Davies said she “received advice through our wider parliamentary team that concessions are now being discussed”.
Ms Davies is confident discussions about amendments are taking place and it is on this basis that Ms Davies and her fellow anti-abortion legislation MPs withdrew their spill threat.
The trio of rebel MPs released a statement this morning which said “we have received confirmation that further concessions will be forthcoming in relation to amendments to the Abortion Bill.”
“On this basis I have called the Premier this morning and advised her that we will withdraw the spill motion to continue negotiations prior to the debate in the upper house commencing later today.”
News the spill had been abandoned came shortly after Ms Berejiklian left home this morning clutching some biscuits confirmed by government sources to be Arnott’s Cheds.
Confirmation breakfast choice is Cheds not Salada pic.twitter.com/LFsg12eyMc
— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) September 17, 2019
Mr Mason-Cox this morning said moderate MPs and supporters of Ms Berejiklian were “playing games” by telling Liberal members there would be a show of hands on the spill motion.
“There was a lot of fluff going around from the moderates that there would be a show of hands — that was an intimidatory tactic,” he said.
“Party room rules are clear — it would be a secret ballot and the motion itself prescribed a secret ballot.
“People playing games and trying to say there would be a show of hands is base politics of the worst order.
“Frankly, I’m disappointed in some of my colleagues.”
Mr Mason-Cox claimed the number of members who would have supported the spill motion was “in the high teens”.
“There was a very strong feeling of concern amongst members,” he said.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich, who first moved the abortion bill said: “Regardless of the events overnight, I’m hopeful that the upper house will deal with this issue with the importance it deserves and that all members will be treated fairly and equally”.
“It’s clear a majority support the decriminalisation of abortion and there are a number of amendments to consider and vote on,” he added.
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The Liberal Party room meeting has just finished with no mention of the Liberal spill and no direct mention of the abortion amendments.
However, The Daily Telegraph has been told the Premier told MPs she’s “not in the business of telling people how to vote” and respected conscience votes.
One MP told The Daily Telegraph they thought MPs were sensitive after the night of drama and didn’t want the meeting to descend into chaos.
However, they said the mood was “tense”.
Upper house Liberal backbencher Scott Farlow said there was “no chaos in the Liberal Party”.
“We are very well served by Gladys Berejiklian as premier,” he said outside state parliament this morning.
Ms Berejiklian had spent last night locked in crisis talks with her key political henchmen after negotiations led by Health Minister Brad Hazzard failed spectacularly to calm MPs furious over the bill.
The Premier was expected to retain support of the majority of the party room, however senior minsters conceded a spill motion would have damaged her authority regardless of the vote.
Senior sources last night, including those against the abortion legislation, expected less than 10 people would have voted for the spill motion.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the spill motion was being seriously contemplated and planned from late last week, pending the handling of negotiations over key abortion reforms.
The rebel MPs finally decided yesterday they would push the button on pledging an “empty chair” spill motion after hours of failed negotiations with Mr Hazzard.
READ ANNA CALDWELL’S ANALYSIS HERE
Ministers issued a flurry of supportive statements for the Premier last night, including Treasurer and senior figure from the right Dominic Perrottet — a key figure conservatives hope to install as a future leader.
Mr Constance — considered by some another future leadership contender — said immediately “not running”, before adding “comical”.
Ms Berejiklian also received support from a string of MPs and ministers who opposed the abortion legislation but stated that they were unwilling to destabilise the government, including Mark Speakman, Rob Stokes, David Elliott, Scott Farlow and Damien Tudehope.
Hornsby MP Matt Kean tweeted his support for the premier before being seen leaving her Northbridge home about 11.45pm.
MPs on the right who are angry at the Premier told The Daily Telegraph they partly blamed Mr Hazzard who they said had repeatedly enraged conservatives from the moment he appeared alongside Mr Greenwich announcing the bill in July.
No, not running. #comical
— Andrew Constance MP (@AndrewConstance) September 16, 2019
Mr Hazzard issued a statement on Twitter last night saying it was “plain bizarre for someone to demand others agree to their viewpoint — they don’t get that the Premier can’t direct others how to vote on matters of conscience”.
One senior conservative MP said that statement only served to entrench votes for the spill motion.
Gladys is the people’s choice as Premier and I support her as our leader. #nswpol
— Dominic Perrottet (@Dom_Perrottet) September 16, 2019
Sources said Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts was a key member of the right particularly unhappy with Ms Berejiklian’s handling of the affair from the outset.
Shortly after 8.30pm last night, the backbench MPs Ms Davies, Mr Mason-Cox and Mr Amato released their joint statement pledging to “hold the premier to account” and move the spill motion.
.@GladysB has my full support as NSW Liberal leader.
— Rob Stokes MP (@RobStokesMP) September 16, 2019
Ms Davies and fellow backbencher Kevin Conolly — who had initially threatened to go to the crossbench over the matter — met Mr Hazzard at 2.30pm yesterday before a lengthy phone call several hours later.
“A conscience vote = an MP expresses his/her conscience equally to all MPs with no direction from our Party or Premier. It is plain bizarre 4 some to demand others agree to their viewpoint. They don’t get that the Premier can’t direct others how to vote on matters of conscience
— Brad Hazzard (@BradHazzard) September 16, 2019
Close to 8pm, when the backbenchers felt they did not have support for their amendments they issued the statement.
“We have come to the conclusion that the right course of action is not to leave the Parliamentary Liberal Party but to hold the Premier to account for presiding over this shameful process,” it said.
We are all backing Gladys! pic.twitter.com/HAvXWzzgw9
— Mark Coure MP (@markcourelive) September 16, 2019
The spill motion intends to state that “the position of Leader of the Liberal Party be declared vacant forthwith and that this spill motion be determined by a secret ballot”.
“It is only with new leadership that we can again move forward as a united team delivering for the people of NSW,” the MPs wrote.
Gladys Berejiklian is the reason why we won the last election - Gladys is the reason why we’ll win the next one #nswpol
— Gareth Ward (@garethjward) September 16, 2019
The amendments which MPs opposing the legislation wanted were a prohibition on sex selection abortions, proper medical care for aborted babies born alive, protection of conscientious objection rights for doctors and allied health professionals and stricter regulation of late term abortions.
I support @GladysB - delivering the strongest economy in Oz, the lowest unemployment, double Labor’s infrastructure, all with no net debt; all setting us up to deliver stronger social outcomes this term. That’s leadership. #nswpol
— Mark Speakman (@MarkSpeakman) September 16, 2019
“At 7.50pm tonight we were informed all the amendments were rejected in full or in part with vague undertakings for further discussions in the morning. This is simply unacceptable after waiting for three weeks for a response.”
This is not a spill, it’s a joke. Gladys will be leader tomorrow and the day after and for as long as she wants. She won us the election in March. She is our best asset and any challenge to her leadership is an act of political lunacy #nswpol
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) September 16, 2019
THE FULL STATEMENT
Three weeks ago it was made clear to the Premier and the Government that at an absolute minimum, four key amendments were required to the Abortion bill to ensure continued membership of the Liberal Party room — a prohibition on sex selection abortions, proper medical care for aborted babies born alive, protection of conscientious objection rights for doctors and allied health professionals and stricter regulation of late term abortions.
At 7:50pm tonight we were informed all the amendments were rejected in full or in part with vague undertakings for further discussions in the morning. This is simply unacceptable after waiting for three weeks for a response.
Since the announcement on 1 August 2019 that the Abortion bill would be introduced to parliament by the independent Member for Sydney, Mr Alex Greenwich, we have been bewildered by the lack of any regard for proper parliamentary process, particularly the failure to allow members any meaningful consultation with their local communities.
We have respectfully and consistently requested the Premier to urgently intervene to restore proper process by stopping the fast tracking of the Abortion Bill and immediately establishing a Joint Select Committee into abortion law reform in NSW. These requests have been rejected.
This lack of due process and respect for other people’s views has broken trust within the Liberal Party room, the wider Liberal Party and many communities across NSW. We have reflected deeply on our position and listened to the thousands of people who have contacted us during this time.
We have come to the conclusion that the right course of action is not to leave the Parliamentary Liberal Party but to hold the Premier to account for presiding over this shameful process.
We have also been alarmed by the Premier’s continued failure to address the impasse in the Legislative Council which has slowly ground the Government’s legislative agenda to dust. This position is also untenable and must be urgently resolved for the good government of this State.
Accordingly, we give notice that we will move the following spill motion in the Liberal Party room at 10am tomorrow: That the position of Leader of the Liberal Party be declared vacant forthwith and that this spill motion be determined by a secret ballot in accordance with the rules governing meetings of the Parliamentary Liberal Party (adopted 20 Nov 1996).
It is only with new leadership that we can again move forward as a united team delivering for the people of NSW.