Peter Dutton has blasted Coalition MPs for fuelling a federal debate on abortion laws, declaring there would be no change to policy if he wins government and they must show more “discipline” on the topic.
Dutton told MPs in his private weekly party-room address on Tuesday morning that the 11th-hour emergence of the issue during the recent Queensland state election campaign may have cost the Liberal National party votes.
One Coalition MP, speaking anonymously, told Guardian Australia that Dutton spoke “very firmly” on the issue in the context of the coming federal election, due by May, and warned against people speaking out, without singling out individuals.
The Northern Territory Country Liberal party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price reopened debate at the federal level two weeks ago after she gave a media interview condemning later-term abortion, which she described as anything after the first trimester, and said full-term termination “becomes infanticide”.
Later-term abortion is a non-medical term for terminations after 20 weeks’ gestation, according to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and can happen because of foetal abnormalities or if the mother’s life is at risk. The first trimester is 12 weeks.
Her comments came after the issue had emerged during the Queensland election campaign and dominated debate in the lead-up to polling day.
Price’s public intervention, which was not authorised by the Coalition leadership, prompted senior colleagues to speak out immediately, saying there was no proposed change to the parties’ policy. The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, the opposition finance spokesperson, Jane Hume, and the Nationals’ Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, all rejected any suggestion that abortion should be reopened as an issue at the federal level.
Even Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who has pressed for changes to abortion law, said after Price’s comments that timing was important and it would be unhelpful to reopen debate before a federal election.
On Tuesday, Dutton is understood to have addressed his remarks to all Liberal and Nationals parliamentarians, though most senators were not present due to estimates committee hearings. Price was among those who did not attend the meeting.
“[He said] it is not a federal issue, it had an impact in Queensland and discipline is extremely important,” one MP reported Dutton as saying.
Dutton is believed to have also said he understands that some people in the Coalition have strong views but that nothing could be gained by airing them as it is “a state issue”.
“The government will try and run a scare campaign on it, so don’t take the bait” is how the MP characterised the message.
The opposition leader said Coalition MPs should not be drawn into debate on the issue by Labor, warning it was a “distraction” that could result in lost votes.
One member said the party needed to be attuned to “city tactics” while praising the party’s election performance in north Queensland.
Attracting strong support in Dutton’s home state of Queensland is crucial to the Coalition’s chances of taking government at the coming federal election, which is due to be held by May next year.
Speaking to ABC radio on 22 October, just days before the Queensland election, Dutton downplayed the likely impact of the abortion debate on voter sentiment.
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s a debate that is shifting votes one way or the other,” he said at the time.
In Queensland, the debate was sparked by Katter’s Australian party MP Robbie Katter suggesting he would press an incoming LNP government to legislate to wind back aspects of the state’s abortion law.
The then opposition leader – now premier – David Crisafulli faced sustained questioning over his position, condemning Labor for inflaming what he said was a scare campaign and eventually ruling out any change to the law.
