Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

These tactics have been particularly disappointing, and I especially note that the vast majority of the LGBTI community has overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a plebiscite. It surely is a measure of the Prime Minister's character that he refuses to act on this issue; instead, his dithering and weakness and unwillingness reflect his inability to stand up to the extremists in the coalition. We should get this sorted today and make marriage equality a reality.

I support marriage equality, as I believe that everyone should be able to marry the person they love—it is as simple as that. I voted for marriage equality when it came before this parliament in 2012, and I would do so again. The fact is that the plebiscite is massively wasteful and divisive for a number of reasons. We voted against it because it is essentially a very bad idea—and the postal vote for a plebiscite is also a very bad idea. Firstly, it is, quite simply, discriminatory and unfair. Why should same-sex couples be subjected to a process that is not inflicted on anybody else? Other couples wanting to marry do not have to ask millions of Australians if they approve of their marriage or get permission. It is unfair. So why are we asking some Australians to go through this process but not others? That in itself is obviously discriminatory and not fair.

Secondly, the plebiscite would just create a platform for the haters. The fact is that a plebiscite would create an opportunity for a cruel, nasty, hateful, homophobic campaign—and that is what would happen if we had a postal vote plebiscite as well. Having a plebiscite and funding the 'no' campaign was only being pushed to give legitimacy to this hateful campaign and to give it a platform. The fact is the plebiscite would unleash a very harmful debate which would punish and further discriminate against gay people, and the discrimination would be all the more widespread as a result of this debate. We have all seen the emails, the letters and the social media posts. We know what they say. Those opposite know how vile some of these cruel and nasty comments are, and that is why they should have voted against the plebiscite. They know how cruel and hurtful this campaign could be. These spiteful comments are of course hurtful to same-sex couples and particularly devastating for their children. Why should their children be victimised like this and have to face such comments and such cruelty? Why should the parents be unfairly targeted and attacked? Why should children have to watch their parents' relationship voted on by everyone else when others are not required to? That cannot be fair. This is what the Liberal and National parties have done in supporting the plebiscite. They have inflicted this emotional torment on young people. I seriously hope they reflect upon that and reflect upon those cruel, hurtful and detrimental comments.

The Leader of the Opposition has quite rightly highlighted the very strong link between this plebiscite and concerns about the mental health of LGBTI Australians, particularly the mental health of young people. I would like to focus on that for a short while. I acknowledge and thank the opposition leader for bringing attention to this very serious issue, especially when the evidence is so very overwhelming. As the opposition leader said:

It is about gay teenagers yet to come out, fearful of rejection, being told that there is something wrong with who they are and how they feel.

A study conducted by the Young and Well institute found that 16 per cent of young Australians who are gay had attempted suicide and one-third had harmed themselves—very concerning. More than four in 10 had thought about self-harm or suicide, a rate six times greater than heterosexual Australians of the same age. Up to two out of every three of these young Australians have been bullied about their sexual orientation, at school, at work or on the sporting field. As Patrick McGorry has said:

LGBTI people have a five times increased risk of suicide …

As he further said:

… this is caused by discrimination and homophobia.

As he went on to rightly say:

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with people in the LGBTI community in terms of mental illness but their experiences causes the increased risk.

This should be a very confronting fact for all of us involved in this debate and something we should always be mindful of.

I would now like to reflect on this issue of youth suicide from the perspective of my former job as a general duties police officer. As police officers, one of the jobs we attended and investigated on far too many occasions was, very tragically, suicides involving young people. I know for a fact that on many occasions those younger people had committed suicide because either they were being bullied because they were gay or they were yet to come out and tell their family or friends and so were fearful of the rejection or discrimination they may face. What is most tragic about youth suicide is the lost potential, the lost dreams and the lost ambitions. We as individuals, communities and governments have to do better—we must do better.

So this is a very real debate. It is about how people will be affected; it is about young people's lives, and we should remember that all the time. That is why all of us as community leaders have a responsibility to speak out regularly and publically to support younger people and send them a positive message—to let them know that they are valued, to let them know that their relationships are valued and to let them know that their families are valued.

I would like to share some stories from my electorate in support of marriage equality. Firstly, I will tell the story of my dear friend, Wil from Mullumbimby. Wil and his partner Paul are very strong supporters of marriage equality and they wanted to be married right here in Australia, but they were unfairly denied that right because this government is doing all it can to delay marriage equality, but Wil and Paul simply could not wait. So wanting to formalise their union and be married, they made the choice to be married under the British flag at the British consulate in Brisbane on 30 September last year, as Paul is a British citizen. While we were all happy for Wil and Paul because their day was, of course, filled with so much love and joy, it also highlighted how unjust the situation is here in Australia. I wish Wil and Paul all the best for their life together and I thank them for their continued advocacy for marriage equality in this country.

In August 2015, I told the House the story of two of my constituents and good friends, Julie and Cas, who were married in the United States. In the context of this contribution, I would like to retell the House about Julie and Cas. Cas was born in America, so they travelled to Florida where their wedding took place. It was wonderful to hear all the details of the planning for the wedding day and see all the wonderful photos. It was, indeed, a beautiful ceremony. One of the most exciting aspects for them was the fact that they received a congratulatory message from the then President Obama. I would like to read that message to the House again:

Congratulations to you on your wedding day. May this special time be blessed with love, laughter, and happiness. We wish you all the best as you embark on your journey together, and we hope your bond grows stronger with each passing year.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama

This meant so much to them: the President of the United States endorsing and congratulating them on being married. As Julie and Cas highlighted, this is a contrast to the current situation Australia. As I said in the House in my previous contribution, if the White House can turn rainbow then surely this House can do it too.

In conclusion, this is essentially a debate about fairness and rights. There should not be a different rule for gay people—it is as simple as that. Marriage equality is not a responsibility we should delegate. We should have the vote in the parliament and save our country from a divisive argument about the worth and value of some people's love—it is just not fair. I call upon the Prime Minister to actually stand up for something and reject the views of the extremists, those on the right wing of the Liberal and National parties. Reject those views and actually have the vote today—we could do it. The Prime Minister has it within his power to bring about a free vote in this parliament and I call on him and the government to do just that. Reject this idea of a plebiscite, particularly this latest idea of a postal vote plebiscite, and allow a free vote on marriage equality today. This debate has gone too long and is too harmful and too hurtful. This is a very important issue in my electorate and I will continue to fight for the rights of my constituents and, indeed, the right for all Australians to have the right to marry the person they love. It is that simple: people should be able to marry the person they love. This parliament should legislate for it today and I call upon the Prime Minister to act immediately.

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