As One Nation rises, Victoria’s Labor and Liberal parties promise to make abortions free. Is the timing pure politics?

theguardian.com

Facing the prospect of election defeat, Labor was hoping to make abortion a defining issue, until the Liberals moved to neutralise the move Follow our Australian politics live blog for latest updates Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast The Victorian Labor party has spent more than a decade successfully wedging its opposition. From the Safe Schools program and abortion clinic buffer zones to voluntary assisted dying and the ban on gay conversion practices , Labor’s progressive social reforms, in particular, have exposed the ideological fault lines running through the Liberal party room and its base. Benita Kolovos is Guardian Australia’s Victorian state correspondent Continue reading...