Mulgoa MP Tanya Davies has threatened to throw the State Government into chaos by moving to the crossbench over the ongoing abortion debate.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian could preside over a minority government if Ms Davies and Riverstone MP Kevin Connolly go through with their threats to strip themselves of party alignments.
Ms Davies and Mr Connolly have threatened to move to the crossbench if amendments to the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill aren’t delivered.
The amendments they seek include preventatives to eliminate sex-selective abortions and provisions for doctors’ rights to conscientiously object to the procedure.
“There are numerous and serious flaws in the current abortion bill and while I continue to work with the Premier and Minister for Health on essential amendments to the abortion bill, if these essential amendments are not adopted I am left in an untenable position,” Ms Davies told the Weekender.
“The radical abortion bill has been rammed through the NSW Parliament with next to no time for proper community consultation. On the day the upper house approved a five day inquiry into the abortion bill it approved a five month inquiry into animal cruelty.
“My conscience will lead me to sit on the crossbench. This decision has been communicated to the Premier, Deputy Premier and Minister for Health.”
Ms Davies admitted a crossbench move could be “political suicide”.
On Monday night, Ms Davies attended a public meeting at St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Parramatta, where she told the crowd that it was God’s will for her to speak up on these issues.
The abortion debate, which has divided the Coalition, is set to return to the upper house in a fortnight, after being put on hold by Ms Berejiklian.
The bill passed the Parliament’s lower house 59 to 31 votes last month.
Labor is taking advantage of the apparent drama within the Government, with Shadow Treasurer Walt Secord declaring Ms Berejiklian’s “lack of leadership” had resulted in the “backbench revolt”.
This is not the first time Ms Davies has thrown an ultimatum to Ms Berejiklian, after threatening to resign over a proposed cemetery at the Wallacia Golf Club, which eventually resulted in her favour.
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Nicola Barton is a news journalist with the Western Weekender, primarily covering crime and politics.
