Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Since the last federal election I have conducted 96 mobile offices in my electorate from Springfield in the east up to Moore in the north-west. Since this motion was moved in parliament I have conducted 16 mobile offices where people have raised issues in relation to it. I have had 700 constituency contacts—emails, phone calls, letters, faxes and people coming to see me to discuss this issue.

There are 580 in support of retention of the current definition of marriage between a man and a woman and 115 people supported a change. Overwhelmingly, the majority of people in my electorate support the position that marriage should be between a man and a woman. That is the definition under the Marriage Act. That is the definition that is supported by the Australian Labor Party, and I have been a candidate in three elections as the candidate for Blair on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. I have supported that position at national conferences. I have supported that position in branch meetings and regional meetings in my electorate and beyond. I have always taken that view. That is a personal view that I have accepted from my religious convictions, a personal view that I think accords with the history of human experience. It is a position which is supported by people of many faiths, including the many Australian Christian leaders who have come out today in relation to the issue; 50 Australian national leaders of Australian churches have endorsed a document on the importance of marriage as a legal institution that promotes and protects the identity of children and interdenominationally recognises their right to know, have access to and be nurtured by both a mother and a father. It is not just people of the Christian faith but people of the Islamic faith and Jewish faith and other religious viewpoints who support this particular position.

I have many friends who are gay and lesbian. I have good mates, like Andrew and Clinton. My sister-in-law Rhonda has been in a relationship with Marion for about 15 years. I get on famously well—in fact, probably better—with Marion than I ever got on with Rhonda's husband previously. I love Marion. I love my sister-in-law Rhonda, and I respect the right of all Australians to be included in Australian life.

I have supported change in the reform of family law and other areas to support the rights of gay people. In fact, I supported that with motions at party units in Queensland and at regional conferences. I am pleased that this government has seen fit to protect individuals through changes in relation to superannuation, taxation, family law and other areas with more than 85 pieces of legislation amended to end discrimination for people in gay and lesbian relationships.

That is the position adopted by this government. It should have been done by the previous government. I do take umbrage at the fact that this motion demands that we, as federal members, are responsible for consulting with our constituents. I do this all the time and you cannot remain in this place unless you do so. I think it is important that we do that. I rejected the idea of an online survey because I feared it would be susceptible to manipulation. I checked every single person who contacted me to make sure they were on the electoral roll, so I am confident that of the 700 people who contacted me every single one of those lives in my electorate.

I think it is crystal clear that the majority of people in my electorate of Blair, which makes up 70 per cent of the population of Ipswich and all the rural area known as the Somerset region, believe that we should include people from gay and lesbian relationships in the fullness of Australian life but that marriage is an institution by definition between a man and a woman and that should be retained because they believe it is a fundamental institution. I do not believe that there is consensus in this country to change the definition of such a fundamental, familial institution as the family unit with a man and a woman being married.

The motion is that what we should do in relation to this issue is listen to our constituents. We do that all the time, and I have in my electorate of Blair.

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