NSW abortion debate: Gladys Berejiklian won’t force vote this week

Gladys Berejiklian backs down on move to rush abortion bill through the upper house.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: AAP

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has backed down on the move to rush the abortion bill through the upper house this week, telling the Liberal party room the government only wants the second reading debate this week and will allow amendments to be moved on the legislation when parliament resumes in three weeks’ time.

Ms Berejiklian also assured angry Liberal MPs this morning that there would be “no more conscience votes in this term of government” in the wake of the abortion controversy, MPs reported, and the government would move forward with Christian Democrat Fred Nile’s “Zoe’s law” as a government Bill — which makes it illegal for a person to harm a foetus through a car accident or assault.

The move to allow the debate to run longer exposes Ms Berejiklian to a potentially hostile Liberal state council meeting on September 14 before the legislation is passed.

At the party room meeting, Ms Berejiklian told MPs “lessons had been learned” from the process, indicating that she admitted mistakes, MPs said.

Ms Berejiklian also told MPs she would like to see amendments to the abortion legislation.

Upper house centre right MP Scott Farlow rose and asked for a guarantee, which he received, that no further MPs would be involved in cross-party working groups on such social legislation, as had occurred with the abortion bill, without consulting their party rooms.

In a further backdown this morning, aimed at healing divisions between Ms Berejiklian and deputy premier John Barilaro, Energy Minister Matt Kean announced he would issue a direction to country-based Essential Energy preventing it from moving ahead with hundreds of job cuts Mr Barilaro said breached a guarantee that no government country jobs would go.