Politicians in Queensland will vote on a bill to decriminalise abortion in September.
Both major parties have allowed a conscience vote on the bill, which means MPs will vote according to ~their own beliefs~ rather than along party lines.
But Labor MPs in Queensland are being instructed by the premier's office what to say to journalists about the issue.
This week BuzzFeed News contacted all Queensland MPs with three questions. We asked how they will vote on the bill, whether they believe abortion should be a crime, and whether their position is informed by a religious belief.
A dozen or so parliamentarians down the list, we received a call from the office of Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk offering to save BuzzFeed News "leg work" by forwarding the questions through to all Labor MPs.
We declined the offer.
We then received an email from a politician we were yet to call: Labor MP Brittany Lauga.
"I understand that you are contacting all Members’ offices to ask questions about proposed legislation dealing with abortion," Lauga wrote.
Her response to the three questions (which failed to address any of them) was as follows, she said:
"The Parliament’s Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the legislation. The Committee is required to report to the Parliament by 26 August 2016. When the Bill is debated in the House, I will cast my vote – according to my conscience – with all Members of Parliament."
We then received another generic response from Labor MP Mark Bailey.
This one was a little different, but it still failed to answer any of our questions, including how Bailey planned to vote.
"Minister Bailey will cast his vote – according to his conscience – when the Bill is debated in the House."
So we asked the premier's office if they had instructed Labor MPs what to say in response to our questions.
The media advisor didn't reply.
Labor MP Glenn Butcher then provided the same statement as Lauga almost word for word.
As did Labor MP Mick de Brenni.
And Labor MP Leanne Enoch.
The premier's office did not respond to another email and follow-up phone call.
BuzzFeed News then sent an email asking whether the office had instructed MPs how to respond to our questions, and whether this undermines the Labor party's policy to allow a conscience vote on abortion.
The media adviser finally called. But he didn't answer our question about conscience votes.
"I was actually trying to help facilitate your query," he said, admitting he had emailed all Labor MPs with our questions, and included a suggested response.
And here's that email, which sounds very familiar ...
The Labor party's National Platform says the matter of abortion can be "freely debated at any state or federal forum of the ALP, but any decision reached is not binding on any member of the party".
We asked federal Labor MP Terri Butler whether instructing MPs on how to answer a question on abortion undermines the Labor party’s policy to give a conscience vote on the issue.
"The problem with that question is I think that is great that people are acting collectively - it's a very Labor thing to act collectively," Butler told BuzzFeed News.
The hesitation from MPs to state their views, she said, could be because they might have disparate views about decriminalising abortion and the proposed reform.
“I’m sure most people do have a view on abortion but having a view on whether abortion should be a crime and supporting the legislation are two different things,” Butler said. “The politics of this is you have a minority government with an independent moving a bill without consultation before it was introduced.”