Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am honoured and proud to rise in this House today to support this Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017, but I want to make it very clear I will not be supporting any amendments. This bill is about the definition of 'marriage'. Marriage equality is fundamentally about equality and human rights. This is a very emotional time for me personally, for my husband, our family and in particular for our youngest daughter, Louise, who is here in this place today. I want to pay my respects to the elders of the LGBTIQ community, the men and women who never gave up and who paved the way for this legislation, the men and women who suffered dreadful discrimination, hate and violence, simply because they belonged to LGBTIQ communities and believed in equality. I am not normally an openly emotional person but, when the results of the survey were announced, I was overcome with emotion because my youngest daughter could now get married like her siblings.

I am so proud to represent the electorate of Herbert. Thank you to 62.8 per cent of the Herbert electorate who delivered an emphatic yes in support of marriage equality. In Herbert, 48,110 people stood up and did what the Turnbull government did not have the guts to do in parliament. My community have stood up for the minority and I am honoured to deliver this speech supporting their resounding 'yes' vote.

LGBTIQ communities around this nation have suffered through 22 amendments of the Marriage Act 1961, all of which did nothing to support their communities. And of those 22 amendments, the one moved on 16 August 2004 was the worst because this was when Prime Minister John Howard shamefully changed the definition of marriage to mean:

… the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

But today, we are here to right that wrong. Nothing will give me more pleasure and satisfaction than knowing that my grandchildren and future great grandchildren will know that I stood in this place on the right side of history supporting marriage equality.

My community and I did not want this $122 million of taxpayers' money spent on a divisive national survey. We knew the destruction it would cause and the distress and hurt that it would cause so many people. The LGBTIQ community were forced to have this survey and throughout this process they remained positive and determined and, as a result of their strong and committed campaigning efforts, they achieved a resounding 'yes' victory. There are so many faces, advocates and stories from the people of Herbert whose actions have collectively led to this momentous occasion, and I would like to share a few of these stories with the House.

I'd like to talk about Luke Cashion-Lozell. Luke and his partner, James, met over a decade ago. In that time, they have lived together, started businesses together and, short of starting a family together, the one thing that they wanted most was to be married in Australia, their birthplace and their home. They wanted their relationship validated in the eyes of the law and the community. Luke and James have campaigned fiercely to make marriage equality a reality since Australia was forced down the unfortunate, unnecessary and expensive route of a non-binding postal survey, and they were absolutely elated with the outcome. Luke said: 'If the marriage amendment bill passes through this place, it will mean that we can get married, we will be equal and our love will be recognised to be legitimate. In the event that the marriage amendment bill does not pass successfully through this place, our fight will not have been for nothing, because we will not stop fighting for equality, as those who have gone before us have done so strongly and bravely. We will continue to fight for what is right and what is just.'

Then there's Krys Fischer. In 2007, Krys met the woman who she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. It saddened Krys to know that they did not have the choice to get married like heterosexual couples. When Krys had bad health concerns, her greatest fear was that, if something were to happen to her, her partner was not protected under the law. Krys was fearful that her parents could overturn her partner's decisions and remove her partner from her side. Her partner was the very woman who knew her every wish, and to have her replaced by people who had no idea of her wishes was very distressing. Krys said: 'The passing of this legislation is much more than one day, much more than the wedding itself. This legislation means that we are protected and have the same rights as my sister and her husband. This legislation means my love for the woman who I have loved for 10 years and continue to love will be seen as equal. I thank every person who has had the conversation and fought for equality.'

Then there's Jake Farrell. Jake always wanted to settle down in an old Queenslander, get married and have kids, but it always seemed like an impossible dream. In 2009, Jake was a year 9 student and knew he was gay. He spent most of his high school life afraid to accept who he was. He hid it from his family and friends because he feared rejection from those he cared about the most. He became an anxious and depressed young man because he was not like everyone else. However, when he went to university, he finally accepted who he was and began dating. Jake said: 'I did not feel it was wrong. I did not feel ashamed. I felt happy. I felt normal, like everyone else. My relationship felt like everyone else's. We laugh, fight, cry and love. It's about having someone who you love sharing the journey through the ups and downs.' The toughest thing that Jake had to do was come out to his mother. He struggled to tell her for months, unsure of how to bring it up, but, when he did tell her, she simply said, 'It does not change anything, as you are my son, and all I want is to see you happy.' Jake said: 'On the day that 61 per cent of Australians voted, I was proud, because I finally felt that being gay was okay and normal to the vast majority of Australians. Marriage equality means more than just marriage to me; it is acceptance and a feeling that I belong, just like when I first told my mum. It also means that my dream of having a family is one step closer, and one day I'll be able to marry my long-term partner.'

Finally, I come to our beautiful daughter, Louise. Louise was quite young when she realised that she was gay, but she did not act on her feelings until her early twenties for fear of rejection. She did not talk about it. Like so many teenagers, she kept it to herself and struggled on. As a teenager, Louise suffered with bouts of anxiety and depression, but she masked it very well. I will never forget the day that Louise told me she was gay. It was late in the afternoon. I was in the kitchen tidying the bench and she was hovering around, making small talk—which she normally doesn't—and finally she said that she had something she wanted to tell me. I have a very bad habit of doing many things at once, so I kept working and said, 'Okay, what's up?' She simply said, 'I'm dating someone, and it's a girl.' Well, I certainly stopped what I was doing, and I think I said, 'Are you sure?' And as the words left my mouth, I thought, 'What a dumb thing to say!' But I remember giving her a big hug and saying: 'Louise, you are my daughter, and all I want is for you to be happy. You know that your father, brother, sister and I love you regardless of your sexuality, because it makes absolutely no difference to us at all.'

She has always been a very determined, individual young woman, but I know that she has had her struggles and challenges on her journey. Louise has a wonderful partner, Kat, and they are engaged and were to have a commitment ceremony on 14 July next year. Now this can be a wedding. She will be surrounded by family and friends. As a mother, all I have ever wanted for all of my children is for them to be happy, to belong and to be accepted for who they are. Those who know me well know that the only way to really upset me is to attack my children or any member of my family.

Louise also has told me that working in the health industry has made her very aware of the legal implications of her relationship not being seen as legally legitimate. Since the results of the survey, Louise said it has made a huge difference to be able to walk down the street holding Kat's hand, knowing that her relationship is seen as equal to that of her brother and sister, who are both married and have children. Louise and Kat feel as though their life has been on hold while they have been waiting and hoping for marriage equality to become a reality, like so many others in the LGBTIQ community. Louise and Kat have attended weddings of three of their friends in the last year, and each time watching each couple declare their love for each other, they had to listen to that one line, 'between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others'. They found this to be a bittersweet moment each time, because they were so happy for their friends, but also could not help the sadness in their heart, knowing that they were excluded from the same celebration of love. Louise says that it has been difficult living in a loving relationship that has not been acknowledged as equal, because equality is a basic human right.

On behalf of my family and the LGBTIQ community, I want to thank the people of Herbert for your support. We banded together and fought very hard to get this great result. I would particularly like to thank the tireless efforts of Peter and Steve, the owners of the Sovereign Hotel, a place that has been a refuge for the LGBTIQ community in Townsville for many years. I thank you both for creating a safe place for my daughter to socialise in Townsville when she was younger. I acknowledge the hard work done by Peter Black from Australian Marriage Equality. I thank Cliffo and Loggy from Hit FM, hosts of the morning breakfast show, whose efforts through the media really helped to get the message out to vote yes to support our LGBTI community.

I thank the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, and opposition leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, and all of my colleagues in this place who have supported this bill. I also thank Senator Dean Smith and Warren Entsch, the member for Leichhardt, and his colleagues, who supported this bill under what at times would have been very difficult circumstances.

When the vote was announced on 15 October 2017, I thought of my friend, Peter Patterson, an incredibly talented man who was severely bashed in a vicious hate crime just because he was gay. The impact of that event sadly ended his life way too early. I thought of long-term friends like Robert and Bill, who have been together for decades, who experienced unjust vandalism on their home simply because they were gay. I remember the bombing of the HIV office in Townsville in the late nineties. But I could also say to myself that Herbert has voted yes. Queensland has voted yes. The nation has voted yes.

As I stand here in this place, I call for unity to support this bill. Now is the time for the hatred to end. Now is the time for the division to end. Now is the time to put aside our differences and accept each other for who we are, because in reality there is much more that we have in common than we have that separates us. It is our differences that make us who we are, and it is the strength through diversity that makes Australia a truly great nation. It's time for this nation to come together to support human rights and equality. It's well overdue. It's time for marriage equality in Australia. It's time to stop treating minorities as second-class citizens. It's time to stop telling the LGBTIQ and gender-diverse community that they're not important and that their needs are less. It's time to legislate for marriage equality for all loving and consensual couples, and it's time for this to happen now. Equality is a fundamental human right.

In concluding, I would like to put the Turnbull government on notice because in my community, when we achieve marriage equality, we will put all of our passion and energy into the continued fight to achieve equality for our first-nations people.

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