Face of Nation : Liberal MP Tanya Davies has expressed her willingness to move to the NSW cross bench over her government’s handling of abortion decriminalisation, placing the coalition’s lower house majority in jeopardy. The upper house is continuing to examine the draft legislation after its passage was last month delayed amid strong MP protest.
The Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 allows terminations up to 22 weeks, as well as later abortions if two doctors considering all the circumstances agree the termination should occur.
Ms Davies, a vocal critic of the bill, told a public hearing on Monday the bill was “trashing our democracy” and she was unconcerned by her political career. Should the Mulgoa MP and fellow bill critic Kevin Conolly move to the cross bench, the government would lose its majority.
It currently holds 48 seats in the 93-seat Legislative Assembly. “There’s one thing that politicians pay attention to, and that’s numbers,” Ms Davies told the St John’s Anglican Cathedral Parramatta event.
“At the moment our government holds government by 50 plus two. I’m one of those two and there’s another colleague of mine … we have told the premier (Gladys Berejiklian) and deputy premier (John Barilaro) that if you do not make essential amendments to this bill, we will remove ourselves from the party room, disconnect ourselves from being bound by the leadership.”
Mr Conolly could not be reached for comment but told The Sydney Morning Herald he had been left in an “untenable position” by the bill.
Ms Davies admitted a move to the cross bench would “absolutely” be political suicide but felt obliged to follow her conscience. She has previously called for the bill to be set aside so a fresh bill could be reintroduced after several months of consultation.
Ms Berejiklian has faced pressure from critics such as Ms Davies, Mr Conolly, Christian Democrat Fred Nile and Shooters MP Robert Borsak on the way the bill was introduced and the time available for public consultation.
