Conservative Opposition to Law Reform.

New South Wales is now the only Australian state where abortion is still a criminal offence after Queensland rescinded a similar law in October.   Of course, that situation does not mean that abortion is impossible to obtain in this state.  It is virtually freely available because the interpretation of how a pregnancy is ended is surrounded by such gobbldegook that this ending is covered by masking medical terminology.

Now at long last it seems that our timid parliamentarians are likely to actually amend the law to ensure that women in New South Wales have an entitlement to a safe and legal termination if that is their choice.  There is still a hard core of religious objectors but the mood of public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of granting that right.

That raises the subject of how public opinion is thwarted by conservative minded politicians who use their own inclinations to decide on issues in parliament.   We may remember how the right for the terminally ill to ease their suffering by a medically assisted death was lost by a single vote.

One of the problems is party politics.  Our parliament is an implacable battle between two main forms of ideology who rarely agree on what is good for the country.   The people who seek office under their banners are indoctrinated into voting along party lines and there are severe penalties - including loss of preselection - for those who dare cross party lines.

Occasionally, an issue is deemed so important that it is subjected to a referendum and the politicians ignore that decision at their peril.   Such was the situation when the " Same Sex Marriage " law became a legal entity in this country.  To further complicate matters, we are governed by two entirely different set of laws - Federal law applicable nationally, and State law which has jurisdiction only within our state borders.

The opinion of the governed is regularly proclaimed by public opinion polls but individual politicians claim that the people of their electorate think differently, and use this to oppose legislation.  Going to the polls in Federal, state and council elections is a legal necessity in this country and this offers an excellent opportunity to test opinions by linking such elections to a vote on important issues pending.

Asking the public to show a separate preference at the ballot box for issues of major importance makes them impossible for politicians to ignore.   We obviously don't want minor issues settled this way and it would be wise to let the High Court decide what subjects go for public decision along with Federal and state elections.

The decisive factor is this delivers a decisive opinion in each politicians own electorate and it would be a brave politicians who voted against what the people who voted him or her into office decided on a national issue.

We vote to send politicians to do our bidding - and we pay them well for their services.  Its about time we had the means to direct their vote on issues they prefer to avoid.   The meaning of that word - Democracy - is implementation of the will of the people !