Queensland election: David Crisafulli evasive on abortion backflip
David Crisafulli has refused to explain why he voted against 2018 abortion reforms despite declaring on Tuesday night that he now believed that a woman had a right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy.
David Crisafulli has refused to explain why he voted against 2018 abortion reforms despite declaring on Tuesday night that he now believed a woman had the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy.
In a conscience vote in 2018, the LNP leader voted against Labor’s laws that removed abortion from the Criminal Code and allowed the procedure on request up to 22 weeks’ gestation.
He has faced intense questioning during the campaign over his personal beliefs on abortion, the staunch pro-life views expressed by his candidates and desires of some in his partyroom to restrict access to the procedure.
At the Sky News-Courier Mail people’s forum on Tuesday night, Mr Crisafulli revealed for the first time that he now believed in a “woman’s right to choose”.
On Wednesday, he would not be drawn on why he voted down 2018 laws if he was pro-choice, when he had changed his views, or what had prompted the shift in his beliefs.
“Well that was a decision six years ago, and we are taking a plan to an election that reflects where the laws have been for the last six years,” he said.
Pressed again why his beliefs had changed he said: “The fact that we will not be changing that legislation gives Queenslanders the knowledge that we do believe in that right.”
Last month, longserving backbencher Jon Krause told a public candidate forum that Mr Crisafulli was a “firm believer” who had voted against decriminalising abortion in 2018 and legalising voluntary assisted dying in 2021.
At a separate candidate forum in Gympie, north of Brisbane, early this month, LNP frontbencher Tony Perrett said he believed life was created at conception, had voted against decriminalising the procedure in 2018 and “would continue to do so”.
Last week, one of Mr Crisafulli’s self-described pro-life candidates declared at a polling booth that she wants abortion laws changed but could not say anything until after the election.
Labor has seized on the comments of all three LNP candidates, running attack ads on social media about Mr Crisafulli’s “secret plans” to roll back reforms after the election.
On Wednesday, he was insistent that all his LNP candidates were now on a unity ticket to ensure there were no changes to abortion laws.
“They’re ruling it out,” he said.
“If everybody is saying there’ll be no change, that’s a pretty good comfort and a pretty good guarantee for Queenslanders.”
The LNP opposition in March voted against laws giving registered nurses and midwives powers to prescribe medical abortion pills, citing concerns from the Australian Medical Association Queensland that it could put patients at risk.
Steven Miles said the lack of detail around the opposition leader’s pro-choice stance created more questions than answers.
“How do you go from staunchly pro-life to suddenly pro-choice just a few days before the election,” the Premier said.
“I think Queensland women will be rightly sceptical about the motivations behind this.
“A few weeks ago, David Crisafulli was opposed to MS-2 Step … well, MS-2 Step is a pretty fundamental component of being pro-choice. When, in the last few weeks, did he change his mind? Did he change his fundamental beliefs? What convinced him? How much would it take to convince him back?”
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