The diligence of Hon Nick Goiran to speak for almost 24 hours regarding concerns with the government’s Surrogacy Amendment Bill has been congratulated by the Australian Christian Lobby.
“It’s through his dedication and hard work that the bill has now been sent to a committee for proper scrutiny,” said ACL’s state director Peter Abetz.
“This is a win for common sense. It was unacceptable for the Labor government to expect parliamentarians to make far-reaching decisions on aspects of surrogacy before they even had the opportunity to study the 600-page government commissioned review.”
Claims from the government that the legislation is urgent due to the current law being inconsistent with Commonwealth law rings hollow, given their refusal to table the legal advice it received.
“This bill has the potential to have far-reaching consequences for women and children yet unborn. That is why it’s important for the parliament to be offered every opportunity to understand the implications it could have.”
Surrogacy is a very complex issue which has many flow-on consequences which has led many nations – including Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, and Denmark – to ban all forms of surrogacy, with the European Parliament rejecting all forms of surrogacy in a non-binding resolution in 2015.
The Australian Christian Lobby welcomes the opportunity to present evidence on the dangers of surrogacy to the committee within the next four months.
