New Zealand First is "shafting" Labour by failing to be upfront about the Abortion Reform Bill, National deputy leader Paula Bennett claims.
Ms Bennett and NZ First MP Shane Jones fronted TVNZ1's Breakfast to discuss the law reform, which has its first reading in Parliament today.
The proposed law would remove the statutory test for a person less than 20 weeks pregnant, allow a woman to self-refer to an abortion provider and create a body to look at buffer zones around some abortion providers.
Some claim Mr Jones blindsided the Labour Party, Justice Minister Andrew Little, and fellow NZ First MP Tracey Martin after calling for a public referendum on the issue, rather than a conscience vote by MPs.
The coalition party’s suggestion comes just two days out from the first reading of the bill in Parliament. (Source: Other)
"At the crux of the issue is a choice - do we uphold what's been a cardinal principle of New Zealand First that moral issues are put before the nation, or do we do what other parties ordinarily do, which is call upon their members to exercise their conscience?" Mr Jones said.
"So it was always going to be a conscience vote, and the caucus decided on Tuesday that whilst it is a conscience vote, we should uphold one of the originating principles of the New Zealand First constitution."
He said he didn't raise the issue in Cabinet, when the legislation was signed off, because "it was always going to be a conscience vote."
"[NZ First's Tracey Martin]'s done a substantial amount of work to ensure that the legislation reflects her understanding of what she knows, has heard, the feedback from our side of the political community, but the principle is a very important principle to New Zealand First – that such things should be put before the nation."
Ms Bennett said she is not "anti-referendum if they come up in different ways."
"We hear about the relationship of the Government all the time between the three parties," she said. "We hear about open and transparent, and what we're seeing here is yet again, New Zealand First kind of shafting Labour by not even being upfront with them, I think, through the process.
"I don't think it would be a lot to ask if you're in that kind of relationship together, but I think this one is definitely one for parliamentarians to be working their way through. It’s a big issue, it’s a health issue – it's currently in the Crimes Act – and it's controversial; let's not pretend it’s not."
Ms Bennett said if the topic of abortion went to a referendum, she would trust the men in her life to vote on the issue by looking at the issue through the eyes of their loved ones.
"I do think that this is about women’s choice, personally, and I feel quite strongly about that, but the men in my life – brothers, husbands, fathers – are my biggest rocks and I would actually trust them to actually be looking at it through the lens of their partners and the people that they love."
However, Mr Jones said that the issue "attracts some extreme views."
"I wouldn't over-dramatise it – it's a conscience issue. Let's see how the process works out, and if it does get to the Select Committee process, I'm sure that people from all sorts of this debate – which is deeply divisive in terms of the emails that come at us – they’ll all have a chance to gnaw on the bone."
Ms Bennett added, "Abortion is tough on everyone, no matter where you kind of sit on it, and so reducing that rate, I reckon, is something that we could all agree on."
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