May Joh (Bjelke-Petersen) rest in peace. Queensland no longer deserves its historical reputation as the nation’s conservative capital.
Take human rights, for example. Analysis of the Australian National University’s 2022 Australian Election Study shows that Queenslanders favour marriage equality (73 per cent) at the same rate as the national average (73 per cent).
On abortion, 71 per cent of Queenslanders favour access on request, compared with a national average of 69 per cent. Just 5 per cent oppose abortion in all circumstances, compared with a national average of 5 per cent.
The poll also found that 75 per cent of Queenslanders support voluntary assisted dying (VAD) choice for the terminally ill, compared with a national average of 78 per cent. Just 10 per cent oppose it, compared with a national average of 11 per cent.
These human rights are hardly academic.
Queensland’s official report of its first full year of VAD law shows that 1,560 terminally ill people requested access. Three-quarters (76 per cent) were dying of cancer, and most (88 per cent) were over 60 years old.
Accessing VAD is not just a so-called ‘city elites’ phenomenon, either. More than half of requests (53 per cent) were in regional and rural Queensland.
Of those who requested access, 793 people ended their life peacefully using VAD, consistent with their own deeply held values and with the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones.
This development is hardly surprising. Analysis of the massive Vote Compass poll from the 2019 federal election, comprising over 105,000 Queensland voters, found overwhelming support for VAD across the political spectrum.
Most Greens voters (89 per cent) supported VAD, as did 84 per cent of Labor voters, 75 per cent of Coalition (LNP) voters, and 76 per cent of minor party and independent voters.
A separate YouGov poll of Queensland churchgoers in 2020 found that most supported VAD.
It was curious then that, leading up to the legalisation of VAD, the Catholic Church’s spokesperson for VAD, Townsville Bishop Tim Harris, wrote to all Queensland MPs “on behalf of the 80,000 Catholics in my Archdiocese”, urging MPs to oppose the reform.
But analysis of Vote Compass attitudes amongst Catholics in the eight Queensland state electorates that comprise the Bishop’s archdiocese show most of the church’s own flock (79 per cent) support VAD, with just 11 per cent opposed.
Indeed, across the state, VAD is supported by 78 per cent of Catholics, 84 per cent of Anglicans, and 82 per cent of non-Christian religionists.
Support is in a considerable majority in every electorate across the state, from 71 to 83 per cent. And most Queensland nurses (87 per cent) also support VAD.
You’d think with such widespread public backing that the human rights issues of abortion and VAD access would be settled.
You’d be wrong.
They’re under dire threat from a small but highly active conservative religious base. And, according to at least one pundit, that base is likely to score an ‘easy win’ at this week’s state election.
Katter’s Australia Party’s (KAP) leader Robbie Katter has vowed to repeal both abortion and VAD laws.
It’s not that KAP is likely to control Queensland’s sole parliamentary chamber, the Legislative Assembly, after the election. But Katter has promised ‘carnage’ to the LNP government if elected, in vigorous pursuit of his party’s repeal agenda.
LNP leader David Crisafulli would rather not talk about it, making vague statements on the hustings of “no plans” to repeal the laws. Yet Katter is likely to have very sympathetic ears.
In 2018, just three LNP MPs voted in favour of abortion law reform. And in 2021, 23 of the 30 MPs who voted against VAD law reform were LNP members.
That is, “no plans” provides not even a faint whiff of plausible deniability for a major party with a strong track record of opposing social reforms that most Queenslanders support.
Many Queenslanders may be tired of their Labor government. But voters should be careful what they wish (and vote) for. A new broom may well sweep the human rights rug right out from under their feet.
Published 25 October 2024.
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Images: David Crisafulli MP (Facebook); Tyler Nowak on Unsplash.
