Conscience, in the usage of the Australian Labor Party, is determined by the Roman Catholic Church and the aim of a conscience vote is to allow members to vote against moves for equality, fairness and social justice if the Pope doesn’t like them. The irony, of course, is that the church teaches that conscience is always paramount – that every vote should be a conscience vote and that it should ultimately be determined not by the church but by the individual. But that’s too difficult altogether.
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