The New South Wales Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, has been selected to take over as Premier of Australia’s largest state, and is coming under media scrutiny for his pro-life views.
New South Wales is Australia’s largest state by population size and is home to over 8.1 million Australians.
Dominic Perrottet was selected after Gladys Berejiklian resigned as Premier of New South Wales, Australia, under accusations of corruption at the beginning of this month.
The new Premier is being criticised for his opposition to the Abortion Law Reform Act (2019), which passed by 26 votes to 14. The Bill, now law, permits unrestricted abortion access up until 22 weeks gestation and de facto abortion on demand up to birth with the consent of two doctors. During the debate, Mr Perrottet was highly critical of the legislation, which he said “[ignored the] obligation” to be a “voice for the voiceless vulnerable, who can’t speak up for themselves”.
“I cannot – in good conscience – support a bill that stops the beating heart of an unborn child”.
He said: “[W]e all possess an inherent dignity – just by virtue of who we are. Male or female. Black or white. Born or unborn”.
He also criticised the abortion Bill for removing any complexity by simply taking away the human rights of the unborn child, and emphasised that we have a duty to care for mother and child.
“Every day there are women out there who fall pregnant in difficult – sometimes impossible conditions”, he said. “I can understand why many of them in that situation would want to consider ending their pregnancies”.
“But our first response as a community should be to help, not to harm. To comfort, value and support both mother and child. But that’s not what this bill does”.
“If this bill succeeds and becomes law… it will represent the triumph of the powerful over the powerless”.
Mr Perrottet concluded his speech against the Bill saying: “The real question is – ‘What kind of society do we want to be?’ Hopefully one where new life is cherished, cared for and celebrated. One where we recognise the importance of mothers, the challenges they face, the difficulties they endure”.
“And one where we recognise that unborn children also have rights”.
Pro-life MPs in New South Wales, Australia managed to add safeguards against sex-selective abortion to the bill. A simple amendment tabled by Finance Minister, Damien Tudehope, stated that the NSW Parliament opposes sex-selective abortions and will require a future review into sex-selective abortion with recommendations about how to prevent them.
Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “We congratulate Mr Perrottet and wish him all the best in his new office”.
“It is amazing that Mr Perrottet is expected to answer for his record of standing up for the unborn by voting against a barbaric piece of legislation that made abortion legal up to birth. It was not that long ago that abortion up to birth would have been recognised for the cruelty it is. Most people would have been, and hopefully still are, horrified about the prospect of ending the life of a fully formed baby in the womb not long before he or she is born”.
