Premier David Crisafulli is again facing questions over the rebel Liberal-National MP who crossed the floor in a bid to reignite the abortion debate in Queensland.
The premier on Sunday said he had spoken to Mackay MP Nigel Dalton, and confirmed he was expected to remain a member of the LNP.
The move by Dalton earlier this week was in support of a Katter’s Australian Party push to reverse a gag introduced by Crisafulli after the 2024 Queensland election, as the premier sought to silence political rivals and shut down moves from his own backbench who wanted to repeal the state’s termination of pregnancy laws.
The motion banned any bills or amendment to the termination of pregnancy act, after debate threatened to derail Crisafulli’s election campaign.
Dalton told reporters after crossing the floor on Tuesday that abortion reform was a “deeply personal issue”. He later told abortion reform advocate Joanna Howe that he was motivated to break ranks because he was uncomfortable having supported the gag in 2024.
“This is my time to redeem myself in the eyes of the public, say sorry, but also in the eyes of God – that’s who I serve, I don’t serve anybody else,” he said in the interview posted online.
He also said he hoped by standing up, “we can actually draw attention to what the abortion act actually says in Queensland”.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson later backed Dalton, saying abortion was an important issue to many Australians.“I’ve actually had my concerns about it greatly,” she said.
When asked about Hanson on Sunday, Crisafulli simply replied: “I made a promise to Queensland and I spoke to you guys, and we’ve honoured that promise.”
In commenting about Dalton’s remarks in the video, Crisafulli said he had honoured the things he had told Queenslanders he would do.
“I made some responses on the floor of parliament about it and probably the most perfect one is the scare campaign that the state was subjected to,” he said.
When asked if he expected Dalton to remain part of the LNP, Crisafulli said yes and confirmed he had spoken with Dalton.
“Just remember, I stood up on the day it happened, and then I addressed it again in parliament. So we’re doing what we said we’d do.”
The Labor opposition earlier this week pressed Crisafulli in parliament about the government’s position, where the premier deflected questions on the issue as a scare campaign. He told parliament: “I said there’d be no change, there is no change.”
On Sunday, deputy Labor opposition leader Cameron Dick said any revisit to abortion laws would take Queensland backwards, and that would be through criminalising women for decisions they make about their own bodies.
But Labor had supported the motion, with the deputy opposition leader saying this was because Labor did not believe members of parliament should be limited in what they say because a premier was concerned about what his own party members would do.
“What we saw this week was the truth from the LNP. There are a number of members of the LNP who want to change Queensland abortion laws and I think that should be of deep concern, not just to every Queensland woman, but every Queenslander.
“Nigel Dalton said he didn’t believe his leader and his fellow LNP MPs when they said there would be no change to the law in Queensland, and we know that MPs like Amanda Stoker have promised the anti-abortion movement in Queensland that those laws will be revisited in future.”
When asked about Hanson and the rising support for One Nation, Dick said: “I’m deeply concerned that the flames of hate are being fanned by the far right in this state.”
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Cloe Read is the crime and court reporter at Brisbane Times.Connect via X or email.
