‘Lost for words’: LNP bans parliamentary debate on abortion laws

Premier David Crisafulli has moved to make good on his repeatedly uttered but never explained campaign promise there would be no changes to abortion laws under an LNP government: by stopping parliament from discussing the topic.

A motion without notice saw rules tweaked to ban any bill or amendment to change the Termination of Pregnancy Act, or even any motion or amendment “seeking to have this house express its views” on the law.

“I said from day one, it was not part of our plan. I said there will be no changes,” Crisafulli said, before he launched MPs into a snap 30-minute debate which erupted into personal attacks and interjections across the floor.

Premier David Crisafulli’s election campaign was plagued by questions about how he would manage the differing views on abortion in his party, and the parliament.Credit: Joe Ruckli

Opposition Leader Steven Miles accused Crisafulli of being “so weak he cannot control his own party”, citing some LNP MPs who have pushed for winding back or repealing the laws.

Miles said Labor would oppose the motion – ultimately passed on the LNP’s numbers despite Katter’s Australian Party MPs also voting against – which would also bar improvements to the law.

KAP leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said he was “almost lost for words” about the move to ban debate on an issue for which he said he was unsure there was any state parliamentary precedent.

During the campaign, Katter had vowed to reintroduce a bill which lapsed in the last parliament regarding “babies born alive” or bring forward a new bill to repeal the act and force a conscience vote among LNP MPs.

Holding a snap media conference after the vote, Katter described the move as the start of a slippery slope in which a government could block debate on any other topic.

“It offends every inch of democracy that there is in this state,” he said.

In a statement, Greens Maiwar MP Michael Berkman said the move was evidence Crisafulli “can’t count on” his MPs to support reproductive rights if a vote was triggered in parliament.

Queensland Unions general secretary Jacqueline King welcomed the move by Crisafulli to “prevent any regression” to the criminalised nature of abortion before Labor’s 2018 reform.

Queensland University of Technology adjunct associate professor John Mickel, a former Speaker and Labor minister, said it was not unusual for governments to control debate in parliaments.

“The premier made a commitment in the election, and this motion reflects that,” he said.