Labor Party and trade union stalwart Joe de Bruyn has urged politicians across all parties to insist on their right to a conscience vote on life-and-death issues such as abortion and euthanasia. Source: The Australian.
Mr de Bruyn, 75, was speaking before addressing Australian Catholic University graduates in Melbourne, where he accepted an honorary doctorate yesterday for services to the Church.
He has served as a trustee of Campion College, Australia’s first independent liberal arts college, for 19 years and chaired the board for 17 years.
His comments come after weeks of debate during the Queensland election campaign in which Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, who is heavily favoured to win, has insisted a Liberal National Party government would not change the state’s abortion laws liberalised under former Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Independent MP Robbie Katter, however, has pledged to sponsor a bill to amend the current law if the LNP is elected.
At the graduation ceremony, Mr de Bruyn said the issue of abortion needed to be tackled.
“Over 80,000 unborn children are killed by abortion in Australia each year,’’ he said. “Worldwide, the estimated number is 42 million per annum. Abortion is the single biggest killer of human beings in the world, greater by far than the toll of human life in World War II. It is a tragedy that must be ended.’’
He urged the students to stand by their principles in their professional and personal lives, even when the general opinion of the majority of the population was at odds with the teaching of the Church.
Mr de Bruyn’s speech was not without controversy, with The Age reporting hundreds of ACU students and staff left the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre during the speech.
Students and attendees at the ceremony called for the university to apologise, and said the comments were inappropriate for a graduation.
A spokesperson for the ACU said Mr de Bruyn’s remarks at the ceremony were delivered in a personal capacity.
“While his views may not be shared by some of our staff and students, as a university we encourage the respectful exchange of ideas that represent the wide spectrum of our diverse community,” they said.
FULL STORY
Free MPs to back beliefs, says unionist Joe de Bruyn (By Tess LIvingstone, The Australian)
Anti-abortion keynote speech sparks walkout during Catholic uni graduation (By Alex Crowe, Stephen Brook and Caroline Schelle, The Age)
