John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In recognising the national and Queensland 'yes' vote results in the survey, I note the comments from the member for Warringah where he said to 'yes' campaigners:

… I accept that what they have fought for for so long should now come about.

He said:

Yet almost five million Australians voted no in the recent plebiscite and their voices should be heard in this chamber …

But, above all else, he said that the vote of the people has happened and that this is:

… the best way because it resolves this matter beyond doubt or quibble.

On the simple question of whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, the national result, as we know, was 61.6 per cent yes. The Queensland result, as we know, was 60.7 per cent yes. I want to emphasise to the chamber that the Groom result was 50.8 per cent no and, therefore, 49.2 per cent yes, with an overall participation rate of 80 per cent, or 82,713 persons. As per the results in other electorates, we did see a higher percentage of females responding. The highest percentage participants across the age groups were those aged 65 years and above. All states and territories recorded a majority 'yes' response. One hundred and thirty-three of the 150 federal electorate divisions recorded a majority 'yes' response. Of the 17 that recorded a majority 'no', two are in Victoria, three are in Queensland and 12, predominantly Labor electorates, are in New South Wales.

I'm not a gambler by nature, nor do I have a crystal ball, but I am someone who knows my electorate. I'm on the record as predicting over recent months that the Groom result would be roughly fifty-fifty, and that's exactly what has happened. I think it's important to focus, in order to put this into context, on other electorates that returned very marginal results. The marginal 'no' electorates included Bennelong in New South Wales and the Liberal seat of Mitchell in New South Wales. The marginal 'yes' electorates included the National seats of Flynn and Hinkler in Queensland and, of course, the Labor seat of Holt in Victoria—a very broad cross-section of regions and parties represented in those regions, indeed.

My consultation in Groom since the result of the survey has been quite extensive so as to decipher what is essentially a fifty-fifty result in my electorate—that very small margin of 50.8 per cent no. I've caught up a number of times with Mr Thomas Coyne, a representative of the LGBTIQ community in Toowoomba and the leader of a peaceful march supporting the 'yes' case through our city many weeks ago, and I have met with other LGBTIQ community members and supporters. I have also met with our mayor, Paul Antonio; my own bishop, Bishop Robert McGuckin of the Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba; and other Christian leaders, such as Pastor Casey Wolverton from the Toowoomba Seventh-day Adventist church, Pastor Ken Wootton from the Christian Outreach College, Pastor Andrew Hoey from the Rangeville Community Church, and Pastor Ian Shelton from the Toowoomba Christian Leaders Network, the father of Lyle Shelton.

It has been clear, throughout all of those consultations with people supporting obviously both the 'yes' and the 'no' cases in the survey, that respect has shone through in our community above all else. I share with the chamber in particular the gracious and insightful comments of Thomas Coyne, when he shared with me his concerns about mental health in the LGBTIQ community, and, at the end of our conversation, shared with me—no prompting whatsoever—that, equally, that may be a concern for people for the 'no' case disaffected by the result. But his important point about the mental welfare of people affected by this survey, particularly in the LGBTIQ community, was well made.

The conclusions from all these consultations in my electorate of Groom over these last few weeks I can summarise as follows. All of those that I've consulted—'yes' and 'no' supporters, as I've said—first of all believe that this bill is going to go through. Secondly, we've had feedback that is basically encouraging the House to categorically vote no, in line with those people's personal views or their electorate results. Thirdly, obviously there are some categorical 'yes' supporters who want a 'yes' vote out of this chamber, in line with their personal views and/or the national or Queensland result, in our case.

But far greater than anything else has been the feedback in my community in recent weeks regarding an overall desire to ensure the protection of religious freedoms. Pastor Andrew Hoey from the Rangeville Community Church said to me that, sure, in his view, a gate has been opened here with the survey result that he didn't want to see opened, but he wants this House, and representatives such as me, to step in and look at the protections, now that that gate has been opened, for those concerned about religious freedoms.

In concluding my contribution here, I stress to those observing from outside the chamber, particularly in my electorate of Groom, that this is just the debate on the second reading of this bill. Many have suggested that the bill as presented includes sufficient religious freedoms. In the next day or two, we will be in a position to consider in detail suggested amendments that are likely to be in line with what many in my electorate want me to consider. They are foreshadowed to be in terms of religious freedoms, freedom of speech and parental choice.

Given the national and the Queensland result, and the very close result in Groom—I call it a 50-50 result—and particularly given my discussions across the region in recent weeks with those who have led the charge in the 'yes' and 'no' cases in Groom, I certainly do not wish to frustrate the progress of this bill. But I do state that, whilst not all of the religious freedoms that have been raised with me will be potentially covered in these amendments to be considered to the marriage bill, and while some of them may not even find a home in this bill, I am committed to supporting such amendments, pending their detail when finally discussed in this chamber. I also recognise the specific Ruddock review, early next year, on whether Australian law adequately protects the human right to religious freedom.

So, whilst we all work through the detail, both in this bill and of course in the outcomes of the Ruddock review in the early months of next year, I support very strongly, above all else, the view that respect for differing positions on the result of the survey on the question of same-sex marriage must be maintained, and that such an approach will ultimately ensure that this is, indeed, a unifying moment for our country.

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