Australian MPs Avoid Responsibility on RU486
The news is in. The RU486 bill has passed, handing final authority for the drug over to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and away from the health minister. The final vote was not tallied and individual members votes were not recorded. This makes a complete mockery of ministerial accountability. What an act of corwardice.

Our democratic system seems to allow ministers to avoid direct responsibility for their votes on controversial moral issues. That needs to be fixed.

From my limited research, the only people that I can confirm voted against the bill are John Howard, Tony Abbott, Andrew Laming, Malcolm Turnbull, and Jackie Kelly. They need to be congratulated and encouraged for standing against this bill. I will post more names as I find them.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Friday, February 17, 2006