Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Mallee for raising awareness about skin cancer in this place, particularly amongst those of us who live in the country.

This week, of course, we will be debating marriage equality, and it's an honour and a privilege in this place. I will speak in the other chamber at some length, but I want to talk a little bit about the results of the postal survey in my electorate of Ballarat. We obviously did not want the postal survey but, once the government determined that that was the course it was going to pursue, I made it very clear that I would be supporting the LGBTIQ community in my electorate. Almost instantly in my electorate, 'yes' supporters pulled together and started campaigning. I'd like to thank everyone who was involved in the 'yes' campaign. In particular, I make special mention of the Ballarat Pride Hub for all of their hard work. I know how much of an emotional toll this took on their members. I thank Brett Edgington and his team at Ballarat Trades Hall, in particular, for their work. I thank all of the volunteers. The Australian Labor Party ran campaigns and the Australian Greens ran a campaign, as did the Liberal Party in my electorate. They were all campaigning in different ways but making sure that there was a campaign run in my electorate. I thank all of the volunteers who helped with street stalls, phone banking and getting letters into mailboxes. It was really important, and the results speak for themselves. Nearly 82 per cent of people returned their surveys in the electorate of Ballarat, returning a 70.5 per cent 'yes' vote, a very important and significant vote for inclusion in my electorate of Ballarat.