Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to second the motion that the Australian Bill of Rights Bill be read a second time. Why am I so proud to be here to support the member for Denison? It's for exactly the reason he says: so much has come before the parliament in the last week that infringes on our human rights. We had the government decide that the most appropriate mechanism for members of the LGBTI community to have the same rights as heterosexual Australians is through a postal survey. That process will create real fear among this community, amongst these people's families and friends—and especially their children—which will potentially open up the doors to bigotry and hatred. I support this bill because it would stop that type of activity. We saw the government introduce legislation attempting to change the citizenship rules, causing huge fear amongst people in my community, who have been living here in Australia as great citizens and perhaps achieving a university level of education, about what their rights are as Australians. So, I totally support this legislation.

What really moved me to support this bill today was my own community. Let me talk about the students at Wodonga Senior Secondary College. Three weeks ago, they had a constitutional convention looking at human rights and how they impact on them as young people, and how human rights impact on our community of Wodonga, Beechworth and Tallangatta. I was moved not only by the knowledge of these students but also by their passion: their passion around homelessness, their passion around the right to be engaged in politics and their passion around the responsibility of the Australian government to govern for everybody, not just small groups. My commitment to that group of young people in particular was to bring their concerns to this parliament in the most practical way I could: by supporting this legislation. I call on the government to bring it on for debate. Let's have a national debate about human rights legislation that governs the whole country. We've got it in the states, particularly in my state of Victoria, and it works very well. What we need is a national approach.

In bringing my comments to a close, I congratulate the member for Denison for bringing this legislation to parliament and I call on my colleagues opposite to give serious consideration to supporting it. The member for Denison did an enormous amount of work on how this could be introduced and on the difference it would make to our country. I'm very pleased to second the motion that this legislation be read a second time.

See this speech in context