Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is facing fresh dissent in ALP ranks over abortion law, after a forum to “keep up the pressure our pollies” was spruiked by Queensland assistant state secretary and Bligh loyalist Jackie Trad in an official party newsletter.
The forum, titled “Did you know abortion is still a criminal offence in Queensland?” was held on Tuesday night at the Trades and Labor Council in Brisbane’s Peel Street, which also houses the ALP’s Queensland headquarters. It was organised by the Kelvin-Grove Newmarket branch of the party, which dubs itself the KGB, and urges ALP members to “keep up the momentum” on the issue, despite Bligh recently declaring the abortion debate over.
The email promoting the event was sent out as part of the party’s Left faction eNews letter. Trad and Bligh are senior Left faction figures.
About 40 party members and pro-choice activists attended the meeting, with guest speakers including former Parliamentary secretary and member for Aspley Bonnie Barry and high-profile pro-choice activist Kate Marsh from Children by Choice. Marsh has previously described Bligh’s stance on the issue as “outrageous” and “pathetic”.
Barry is a prominent member of the group Pro Choice Queensland, which has called for immediate reform of the state’s century-old abortion law. In August, she revealed the existence of draft legislation to decriminalise abortion and during her time in parliament she was regular thorn in the side of Bligh and former Premier Peter Beattie over the issue.
Trad, who assumed the operational reins at ALP headquarters after leading the party’s failed campaign for the state seat of Indooroopilly at the last election, did not attend.
The issue of abortion continues to divide the state Labor Party, despite at least 60% of the Queensland public supporting a woman’s right to an abortion. Bligh has faced intense pressure to change the law after a Cairns couple were charged with abortion offences in April. Despite a recent change to the Queensland Criminal Code that allowed doctors to avoid a statutory ban on medical abortions, the practice remains a crime.
Bligh is believed to privately support decriminalisation, but remains cautious over the prospect of rebel backbenchers abandoning the government in the event of a conscience vote.
The Queensland Premier told the Q&A program in July she had “very liberal” views on abortion. “I believe it is a private matter between a woman and her partner and her doctor.”
But Trad, who served as Ms Bligh’s campaign director when she was first elected to state parliament in 1995, told Crikey that despite apparent widespread support for further law reform, the issue didn’t have the potential to shift votes at the ballot box.
She also said issue was a private matter and that “Labor party members, like the rest of the population, have strongly held views on the topic”.
Carol Corless, from the Labor Women’s Forum that helped organise Tuesday’s event, told Crikey that she remained hopeful that the Premier would relent on the issue.
“There’s a massive lack of education and we simply want it taken out of the criminal code,” she said.
The forum includes Bligh in its ranks through her membership of the party’s feminist wing Emily’s List.
The only policies in Queensland are those decided by Bill Ludwig’s AWU (Labor Forum) mafia. Bill has the numbers so Bill has the say and it doesn’t matter a toss what anyone else thinks or does, including the premier, if she wants to keep her job.
So those lazy people on the Left, including the Left unions, who have no say about anything should get off their rears, split the party and form a Green Left coalition to take to the next election, because there is no way that the AWU will relinquish any vestige of it’s control. ps If a LNP government had tried to privatise the state assets that Labor is to privatise there would have been riots in the street.
Politicians need to realise that the voting public will not vote against a party which removes abortion from the Criminal Act.
Analysis of the Monbulk electorate in the Victorian elections of 1983 showed that only 3% of voters will vote for a right to life candidate while at least half the electorate broke their voting ticket to put the freedom to choose candidate Dr Bert Wainer above the right to life candidate.
Queensland politicians should realise that the majority of the electorate is intelligent and understanding and will accept the policy Freedom to Choose an abortion.
Despite Michael Crook’s observation, Anna Bligh’s “job” would not be threatened in the way implied. I believe that Bligh’s only hope of re-election will be via a timely change of mind about the criminal code on abortion and a straight out election promise to change the law. That way the Queensland public (women in particular) can help themselves to a personal conscience vote and won’t have anyone but themselves to blame for the result. It’s easy Anna. Take the reins, you can do it.