The Queensland cross-bench MP, Robbie Katter, says he thinks Liberal National party candidates who made anti-abortion comments prior to the state election were “dog whistling” but have little intention of deviating from the party line.
The Katter’s Australian party leader told ABC Radio National on Tuesday that he would still seek to “test the parliament” on a potential private member’s bill to wind back some elements of Queensland’s 2018 laws that decriminalised abortion.
The KAP MP’s vow to do so during the state election campaign turned abortion rights into a significant issue, credited with helping Labor to prevent the loss of more seats in Brisbane and its surrounds.
The incoming Crisafulli government has said it has “no plans” to reform the laws and that there will be “no changes”. But if Katter brings a private member’s bill, the longstanding LNP practice is to hold a conscience vote.
Several LNP MPs – including Tony Perrett and Jon Krause – said early in the campaign they either opposed the laws, or might attempt to repeal them.
During the last parliament, Katter tabled a “babies born alive” bill that would mandate life-saving interventions on the extremely rare occasions where an unviable foetus is born alive. Healthcare professionals say claims by anti-choice lobby groups about the situation amount to misinformation.
Katter told the ABC that he had been asked if he would consider a private member’s bill and said “of course I would, that’s what we do … and it blew up from there”.
“I haven’t worked that out [what a bill might look like] I’m sorry we can’t give you more detail. I got pulled into the debate, and all I can say is we will be testing the parliament on it.”
But Katter said he was sceptical that LNP MPs, including those previously on-record supporting reform, would support his bill.
“I think they were all dog whistling. Some of the motivation behind it is all these people going around trying to pretend they’ve got values in one direction when they’ve got no intention of voting against their party, or knowing that a conscience vote isn’t really a conscience vote.”
LNP sources say the party is “acutely aware” that it had not made inroads into Brisbane electorates to the same extent as the regions, and that the new premier, David Crisafulli, would focus on putting forward a modern-looking government.
“The sorts of scare campaigns that have been run hark back to a version of the party that is not David’s version,” a party source said.
“In four years’ time, Labor won’t have abortion, it won’t have Campbell Newman. It won’t have much at all.”
Counting continued in up to 10 seats that remain in the balance after Saturday’s election.
Labor appears to have taken a narrow lead in Pine Rivers, where outgoing minister Nikki Boyd had earlier been in trouble.
The count in Gaven, on the northern Gold Coast, has also narrowed. Labor’s housing minister, Meaghan Scanlon, is considered the party’s rising star and is fighting off a challenge from former TV reporter Bianca Stone.
Scanlon’s lead on election night has been cut to an estimated 290 votes and the seat remains too close to call.
