Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wentworth for her question and for her commitment to equality, regardless of who people are. One of the things that Mardi Gras represents is a celebration of our common humanity whilst respecting our diversity as a society, and it's something I've been proud to participate in for a very long time, since the early 1980s. It is just a fact that students should be respected and teachers should be respected for who they are. I remember, as a student, one of my friends coming to school who'd been the subject of a violent assault because of who they were, because of their sexuality. At that time, he didn't even report it because at that time—fortunately, society has moved forward, and we're far more open about respecting who we are, but we still have a long way to go.

I note that, in New South Wales, there has been an outbreak—and the Attorney-General is working with the New South Wales government on a number of instances where there have been violent assaults on young people that were filmed and put on the internet in order to somehow boast. These cowards deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

For young people coming to terms with their identity and who they are and coming to terms with expressing themselves, it can be really, really tough. I think that we as government want to play a role—and I'm sure it's one that the member would agree with—in promoting respect across the board as well. We've come a long way, but there's further to go, as the member has said. My government will continue to promote equality, to engage in a respectful way in which every person, whether they're a student or a teacher, are able to engage and be who they are as well. We don't support discrimination in any form on issues such as this.

So I thank the member not just for her advocacy in this place but for her advocacy in her local community as well. On Saturday night, obviously, I was engaging in briefings and there were other things going on. But I do think that we should continue to work together as a society to make sure that every young person in particular feels safe, because they have an absolute right to do so.

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