Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

I rise to speak for the third time on this motion. I've had a little bit of time to think about how I wanted to conclude my contribution. I've already said, in an earlier contribution, that I think some of the contributions supporting this motion have been made in good faith, and I don't resile from that statement; I think that's true. What I do want to say very clearly is that I don't believe this motion has been moved by Senator Hanson in good faith. I want Senator Hanson to know that we see exactly what she is up to here. We see you trying to line up trans people as cannon fodder in your ongoing culture wars. We're not going to have a bar of that, because trans rights are human rights. Trans men are men and trans women are women. Trans folk deserve our love and support. They do not deserve to be discriminated against, persecuted and vilified. No human should have to live with the threat of violence, persecution and discrimination because of who they are. No human should be lined up and used as cannon fodder in the culture wars, particularly when we know the grievous harm that this will do to so many trans folk and so many people who love trans folk. I'm one of those people. I'm lucky enough to be a stepdad to an awesome young trans man, Jasper Lees.

Jasper wrote something in the Guardian a few months ago, after a rally in nipaluna/Hobart that was put on by Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker—who is still trolling me on Twitter, by the way, and trolling Jasper's mum, Cassy, on Twitter, labelling us as 'groomers' because we had supported Jasper through his transition. For that, I'm apparently a groomer. This is where this debate is at, folks. When you line up with people like Senator Hanson and Senator Roberts, that is where you are at. When Jasper wrote for the Guardian, he said a couple of really impactful things. He said:

Transitioning has been … the hardest and most wonderful thing I have ever done.

He also said:

There were two options for me as I grew up … I could die or find a way to live as Jasper.

Those were the options that he faced. What this motion seeks to do is line up people like Jasper as cannon fodder in the ongoing culture wars run by the extreme right in this place, in this country and in numerous other countries around the world. As I said earlier, the Greens are not going to have a bar of it, because we are here for people like Jasper. We are here for trans folk and other folk across the whole beautiful, complex web of human diversity, whether people are straight or queer, trans or cis, brown skin, black skin or white skin, able or disabled. This wondrous condition of humanity is actually enriched by its diversity, and diversity should be celebrated and supported. It shouldn't be condemned and used as a reason to punish and vilify people.

So I want to warn everyone in this chamber that, if this motion goes through, we are going to set up a parliamentary platform for hatred and bigotry; we are going to give the bigots of the country, the haters of the country, the persecutors of vulnerable people who live in this country, a platform and a megaphone. This is not some hypothetical exercise. This is not some scenario where we can all do our thing in this committee and then go home, and everyone will just be fine. Everyone will not be fine. I need people to understand that everyone is not going to be fine if this motion goes through. You cannot say you weren't warned, because I'm warning you now, and others have warned you in this debate, about what will happen if this motion gets up—this massive megaphone, the parliamentary privilege we will provide to people who make submissions and give evidence, the grievous harm that will be caused to people who deserve our love and support, who do not deserve to have us abandon them to the hatred and the bigotry that will inevitably flow if this inquiry gets up.

Trans rights are human rights. Trans men are men. Trans women are women. We should be offering them our collective and unanimous love and support. We should not be providing a platform for the haters and the bigots to use them as cannon fodder in their culture wars. We should not be deliberately setting up a process of the Senate that is designed explicitly to cause harm to people who deserve our support. That would be an appalling thing to do to a group of people—and I've lived through it personally—that we know are likely to harm themselves. We know how likely they are to kill themselves. This is not a hypothetical exercise, colleagues; this is real life. People are not going to be fine if you vote for this motion.