Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This is a big day for love. Despite the years of bigotry and hate, despite the years of violence and lies, despite the ignorance and the fear, love has won. Today we are on the brink of an extraordinary moment in Australian history. In the tale of our nation this will be remembered as the day love won. The resounding 'yes' vote for marriage equality was a moment of which we can all be proud. Australians opened up our arms and embraced our sisters, our brothers and our families. In the face of bigotry and hatred, we reflected back love. To the young boy in the country town who is working out who he is attracted to, or to the young girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the high-school formal, this is for you. This is a message from the nation's highest body that you are equal, you are loved and you are respected.

In my electorate of Melbourne, people campaigned for the 'yes' vote with gusto. Hundreds of volunteers knocked on thousands of doors. Greens offices were full of volunteers and supporters making phone calls. Union organisers at the Victorian Trades Hall Council were active everywhere, and thousands of people turned out for massive rallies. In that respect, I particularly want to acknowledge the years of advocacy from Aly Hog, Anthony Wallace and all those at Equal Love, who have been tireless in Melbourne and throughout Victoria in their pursuit of equality.

And there were countless local actions. In Kensington, around the corner from me, the Kensington Good Karma Network, a Facebook group that covers Kensington and Flemington, got together of their own volition to place a bulk order of rainbow bunting. As a result, as you walk around streets in Kensington, you will find in many places that every second or third house is festooned with decorations of pride and a call for the 'yes' vote. Racecourse Road, Bridge Road, Swan Street, Gertrude Street, Smith Street and Brunswick Street were a sea of rainbow—and many houses, I am proud to say, had posters that my office had sent to everyone in the electorate. Many churches showed their support. The cities of Melbourne, Yarra and Moonee Valley also displayed a strong message of equality. And so did many big businesses, major organisations and big footy clubs like North Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond. The result of this enormous effort from thousands of people was that the electorate of Melbourne recorded the highest 'yes' vote in the country. I am so proud of the people I am lucky enough to represent.

And so, after decades of prejudice and pain, today we take a crucial step in the healing of our nation. Today a wrong will be made right. Finally, our parliament will change our laws to reflect a universal truth: we are all equal. But we wouldn't be here without the collective effort of everyone who has fought for progress. And we must remember that every step towards equality for LGBTIQ Australians has been paid for with pain and sometimes blood—the blood of queer Australians and their allies who took to the streets to stand up for their rights, only to be batted down by batons and fists; the blood of people who were callously murdered for daring to be who they are; and the blood of people tragically spilled by their own hand when the barrage of messages telling them they weren't loved, that they were wrong, became too much for them to bear. It is a tragedy that their innocent blood was spilt. It is an unspeakable tragedy. In their memory, I wish to pause now for a moment's silence.

LGBTIQ Australians have always been part of our community. In a world that so often told them they should not, or do not, exist, their mere existence has required a courage and resilience many of us can only imagine. Perhaps this truth is embodied by the postal plebiscite—the aberration of democracy that this country put the LGBTIQ community through to get here. As if hundreds of years of persecution weren't enough, the LGBTIQ community was forced to tolerate one final humiliation before they and their love could be recognised as equal. In a cruel twist from a weak Prime Minister, the fundamental rights of a minority were decided by the very majority that oppressed them for so long.

But, thankfully, the people of Australia proved they are better than the obstructionists who have succeeded for far too long in strangling progress in this country. The victory was sweet and it was emphatic, but it came at a price that should never have been paid. I cannot imagine how the last three months have impacted on LGBTIQ people. Our government pinned you down under a microscope to examine your soul, to determine whether or not your love and your relationships were worthy of equality. You were used as a paddle for the Prime Minister to wade through political waters that were too treacherous for him to wade through alone.

I also reflect on how this important step forward for LGBTIQ people cannot be the last step that we take. True equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people eludes us now, and the unfortunate reality is that it will continue to elude us well after this bill is enshrined in law. So this watershed moment is not the end and it's not the beginning. It is a step on a long, winding path towards justice. In removing discrimination from marriage we must remember that we are only dismantling one part of a system that bombards LGBTIQ people from every angle with a message that they are different and that they are not normal.

So, on this day, as we look behind us at the journey that we took to arrive at this moment, we should, in part, be ashamed. But, as we look forward, we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to use the momentum that has been generated in 2017 to fuel the march towards full equality. Today, as parliament finally catches up with the wishes of the people, we have a reason to be optimistic and hopeful about the future. With this hope comes responsibility: the responsibility to get this right—to get this right here in this chamber, because the nation is watching us closely and sizing up whether this place is up to the task they have set for us: whether or not we will finally vanquish the hard-right conservatives who have waged a holy war of bigotry on the LGBTIQ community for so long. They are holy warriors, led by the member for Warringah, insidiously spreading their hate and their fear for far too long.

My message to you, the watchful nation, is that the Greens up are to the task you have set for us. We have always been up to that task. Since we entered this place, we have led the charge to remove discrimination from marriage in this country. I am proud that former Greens leader Bob Brown first introduced a bill for marriage equality into the Senate in 2004. I'm proud that one of my first acts as a parliamentarian was to successfully move and have pass through this chamber a motion requiring MPs to consult with their electorates about marriage equality, to understand just how much people had moved on. And I'm also very proud to have introduced the first-ever marriage equality bill into the House of Representatives in 2012.

What I must make clear now is that, while the current bill before the House will remove discrimination from marriage, it is still a compromise. This is not the bill the Australian Greens would have introduced if it were just up to us, but it is apparent that this bill, the product of a cross-party process, is one that is capable of winning the support of parliament. I will move several important amendments on behalf of the Greens that reflect those that were moved in the Senate and which seek to ensure that this bill more closely satisfies the promise that this bill claims to fulfil.

The amendments, which I will deal with more closely in the consideration in detail stage, make changes to the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 to, amongst other things, retitle it to reflect what this bill is actually about. They will also ensure that religious and other exemptions don't open the door to further discrimination. The amendments will do a number of things, but amongst those things they will remove the section of the bill that restates the section 37 exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act, which already give religious organisations right of refusal in the provision of goods and services according to their religious beliefs. This is an unnecessary duplication in the bill, as religious organisations already have this right. What we are also concerned about is that by putting those provisions in this bill it might open up the door to a whole stream of new litigation from the very people who have fought this bill coming to fruition in the first place. I hope that I am rendered wrong in due course, but it is important to point out now that we still have some work ahead of us to do.

We will also seek to amend the bill to ensure that we don't exclude or limit the operation of the states and territories in dealing with antidiscrimination laws, to the extent that any law is capable of operating concurrently with this act. If there are states who have taken a more enlightened approach than the Commonwealth, then we should lift up those provisions rather than push them down. But, of course, I say proudly that, in any event, whether or not those amendments get up, this bill will be supported because it is a bill whose time has come.

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Every right and every freedom that we enjoy has been won by the struggle and the sacrifice of those who have come before us: the hundreds of thousands who fought and died in the struggle against slavery; the strength and tenacity of working people who won the right to form unions and the eight-hour day; and the bravery and courage of the suffragettes, who gained women the right to vote. But, here in our time, we also have our own heroes. Thank you, Rodney Croome, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, Alex Greenwich, Anna Brown, Felicity Marlowe and countless others who have fought for marriage equality. Thank you also to Shelley Argent, from PFLAG; Peter Furness, founding convenor of Australian Marriage Equality; Dr Sharon Dane, marriage equality researcher; and John Kloprogge, AME volunteer and just.equal board member. I hope that they're in the gallery today. I don't know whether they've made it, but I hope they are. Thank you also to Jason and Adrian Tuazon-McCheyne and to Jac Tomlins and Sarah Nicols—the couples who first filed to have their overseas same-sex marriages recognised in 2003, prompting John Howard to amend the Marriage Act in 2004. It is so fantastic that you are able to join us as we right a wrong.

I say thank you to Bob Brown, who first fought in Tasmania and then in this parliament for equality. I want to thank my Senate colleagues for coming here to the chamber to witness this crucial step towards equality and, in particular, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who has fought for marriage equality since the day that she was elected into this parliament a decade ago and worked to make sure we got some real progress during those good days of a power-sharing parliament. Thank you to Senator Janet Rice for being such a powerful leader for change and being willing to share your own story in the cause of that change. Thank you for your humility and your love and your care.

Love is universal. Everyone is capable of giving and receiving love. Every culture and language has a word for love. The Chinese philosopher Laozi said:

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

The Arabic word for love is Ishq. This is a profound or divine love for a God or for another person. In the ancient poetry of the Sufi, one cannot often distinguish between the love of another person or of God. The Apostle Paul said in the Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love has persevered and, as marriage equality becomes law in Australia and around the world, a new chapter in the story of love is being written, a chapter that will mean that the love of two people will be recognised in law regardless of their gender or sexuality. Love will become truly universal. Many years ago, when first speaking of marriage equality in this place, I said:

Love knows no boundaries. It knows no limits. And love knows when it has found its partner. There have been many attempts throughout history to limit love, and all have failed. As we move further into the 21st century, I am confident that attempts to limit love will fail yet again and that full marriage equality will become a reality.

I said that a few years ago. I am so happy now that time has come. Let the bells ring! Let the people sing, 'Love has won!'

See this speech in context