CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
What looked like a dream Bradbury run to election victory for the Queensland LNP has blown up into a million pieces today.
This comes as the Katter Party lobs a hand grenade into their campaign, just over two weeks before Queenslander’s vote in the 2024 State Election.
On Tuesday, the proudly Catholic voice for rural Australia, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), which currently has four Queensland MPs, made it clear they will be seeking support for a private members bill to wind back access to abortions.
The fact that this hot button topic is now dominating the news cycle appears to be a Kattervellian tactic to test the major parties, who will likely have to seek support from the North Queensland independents in the event of a hung Parliament.
The Labor Party has slapped down any suggestion that this is something they are willing to negotiate over.
Premier Steven Miles, who has had nothing to lose this entire campaign, was quick to say that there would sooner be snow falling in the streets Cairns before his party agreed to wind back access to reproductive healthcare.
The LNP leader has not been so clear about his intentions. In a rare example of balanced journalism from the Queensland media, LNP leader David Crisafulli was today asked a question that ended up making him look bad.
His response to the Katter Party’s plans to wind back abortion protection, Crisafulli froze, before saying that ‘his team knows his plan’.
He also could not confirm whether or not his party would expose their Evangelical Christian edge with a conscious vote on the topic.
With the US Presidential race being fought over this very issue in the backdrop, Katter’s little spotfire could likely jump the creek and turn into a blazing black summer for the LNP.
On top of this, any plans to erode Queensland women’s access to safe abortions seems to directly contradict the LNP’s plan to tackle youth crime.
Or does the LNP just want to build more prisons so the state can take care of the unplanned kids of teenage mothers the moment they turn 10?
