Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say I've been waiting for quite some time to be able to stand and make this speech in the parliament. I declared, like many who came in on the Labor side in 2013, that, on the day we got to vote on this bill, I'd be speaking in favour of marriage equality, proudly, on behalf of my constituency, and that I'd be voting yes. Before I get into outlining why I'll be voting yes, I just want to speak about why I will be voting against the amendments that have been put forward by the Prime Minister and the member for Warringah.

I am actually quite shocked that those opposite in the Liberal Party and the National Party could have sat here yesterday to see that beautiful moment when the member for Goldstein proposed to his partner and said, 'Will you marry me?' It was more than a Love Actually moment. It made this place really human. It spoke to the really personal nature of this debate. But then, if the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill amendments are successful, his colleagues are saying it's okay for a business to discriminate against providing services to them when they're planning their wedding. The proposals that have been put forward by the member for Warringah would allow a taxi, a florist or someone to say, 'We are not going to provide services to you because you're a same-sex couple.' That is wrong. That is just wrong. That is a form of discrimination we outlawed in this country many, many years ago. In this country, there used to be signs in windows saying, 'No blacks allowed.' We outlawed that because that is wrong. We ended that discrimination. We ended discrimination in marriage based upon age, based upon disability and based upon race, yet we've got those opposite who now want to bring it in for people based upon sexuality. That is wrong. That is why Labor will vote against the amendments that have been put forward by the member Warringah. You cannot say on one hand, 'We support marriage equality', but on the other hand allow people to discriminate against that couple. That is disingenuous and it is wrong.

I also want to call out the misinformation during the survey process. Government members are now saying how wonderful it was that the country came together. Say that to all the LGBTI people in my community that had their relationships questioned every day that process went on. Say that to the young people who ended up in Bendigo ED because of the anxiety, because of the stress and because of what they had been put through because of government members and because the Prime Minister was too weak to do his job and allow this parliament to vote on this issue. I want to call out the misinformation about Safe Schools. I had far too many conversations with people in my electorate who thought that this bill was about Safe Schools. It has nothing at all to do with schools. This bill is about marriage equality. This bill is about saying that two people can marry—that love is love. It has absolutely nothing to do with our schools.

I vote yes to this bill and in favour of marriage equality for the 68.9 per cent of people in my electorate who did stare down this government's divisive campaign around marriage equality and did exercise a vote in favour. The Bendigo electorate result was higher than the national result. It was higher than the Victorian state result. After this agonising and divisive campaign, our result was a real victory for people in our community for coming together to say, 'We are going to stand with the LGBTIQ community and stand with them and vote to demonstrate to the government just how supportive and inclusive we are.' Our result in Bendigo was similar to that of many regional electorates.

I was asked by some in the media if I was surprised by the result. The answer was no because, like a good MP, I have chatted to people in my community. Since being elected I've had surveys, petitions and conversations. The community made its mind up to support marriage equality in my electorate a long time ago. In the conversations that we had at our street stalls, people who had never engaged in politics said: 'I'm voting yes. I'm telling you I'm voting yes. I'm also telling you I'm very disappointed in the Prime Minister.' Some are people who support the Liberal Party and the Nationals. Unfortunately, my result in the Bendigo electorate is not 68.9 per cent. We know that members of the Liberal Party or the Nationals or voters for them supported marriage equality.

But we didn't need to have a survey to know that. It states very clearly in section 51 of our Constitution that it is the role of this parliament to define the Marriage Act. Whilst overwhelmingly Australians have voted in favour of changing the law, they didn't actually get to change the law, unlike in other countries. The fight isn't over and it is now up to all of us to do our job.

I vote yes for every member of the LGBTI community who had to endure physical and verbal attacks as a result of this survey. I vote in favour of this bill for the headspace workers in Bendigo, for the workers at the Bendigo hospital and for all the people in the mental health sector who provide support to our LGBTI community that felt quite confronted and victimised by this survey.

I vote yes for the activists in my electorate, the Bendigo Says Yes committee and, in particular, Ethan, Harry, Tash, Nat and Tash, and Harry and Nat, who are here today in the gallery. I acknowledge them for their efforts. I can remember when I messaged Harry. I was sitting in this place and I said: 'We now have to go through with the survey. We should talk to Luke at Bendigo Trades Hall about getting a committee together.' He said, 'Already onto it.' He just reacted and organised and pulled together a great 'yes' campaign. I also acknowledge the Castlemaine Says YES crew, the Kyneton Says Yes crew, Rainbow Labor and Central Victorian Labor branches, who helped support the street stalls, the motions and on-the-ground support. I acknowledge the great community organisations in my electorate like Cobaw health, in the Macedon Ranges, and Haven; Home, Safe, which, without a doubt, said, 'We are with you and we stand with you,' and were a big part of the campaign locally.

We had to confront the misinformation, and we did so honestly and frankly. I also want to acknowledge the efforts of my office. Outside of work hours on weekends, they got involved in the 'yes' campaign, not because I asked them but because they believed in the campaign and the campaign issues.

I vote yes today for all the small businesses in my electorate who've expressed support for marriage equality over the years. In 2015, the big businesses of Australia took out an ad to say that they support marriage equality. In my own electorate, businesses decided, 'Let's do the same,' and, led by a local cafe owner, 21 businesses took out a full-page ad in the Saturday Bendigo Advertiser to say that they support marriage equality. They were the first regional community to do so. There were one or two people who said that they will now boycott these businesses because they supported marriage equality. It didn't matter, because every single one of the cafes was full. People bought clothing because they were so proud to go shopping in a business that supported marriage equality. It really helped show our community how committed we were to inclusion.

I vote yes for our local media, who've been part of telling the Bendigo and Central Victorian story, and, in particular, Bendigo journalist Mark Kearney, from the Bendigo Advertiser, for his positive and inclusive coverage. Mark spoke to me about how this was very hard for him, being part of the LGBTI community—to continue to be independent and impartial on an issue that was so personal to him. But Mark, like the rest of the Bendigo media, did an outstanding job to make sure they told the story.

I vote yes for all the schools and school students who've raised this issue with me since I was elected—St Kilian's, St Joey's, Catholic College Bendigo, Girton Grammar School, Bendigo Senior Secondary College, Bendigo South East College, just to name a few. When I asked the students, 'If you were Prime Minister of this country, what would you do?' they all said that their priority would be marriage equality. In fact, in this place not that long ago, Catholic college students who were here held their own vote up on the Queens Terrace, and, when put to the question, 'Would they support marriage equality?' they all voted yes and asked that we in this place do so as well.

I vote yes for friends on Facebook who wrote comments in the last 24 hours about why they support marriage equality. I vote yes for Maree, who said, 'My family welcomes this bill because, at long last, our son Sean and his husband, Brad, will be equal and legal when they come to live in Australia,' and for Melissa, Reverend of the Anglican Parish of Woodend—in fact, for all of our Anglican parishes—who said: 'Many religious leaders in your electorate are fine with this bill as it is. Many of us voted yes and will be proud when all people are equal under the law.' And I vote yes for Chris and Peter, and all of their friends and family, who will be thrilled at the prospect that they could be married next year.

I also vote yes for friends and family. Like many in this place, this is a personal debate, and they've shared how this law will affect friends and family. I vote yes for Katherine and Erin and their beautiful little girl and for all of the United Voice babies. Shortly after I left United Voice, there was a bit of a baby boom. Four babies were born. Four women were on maternity leave, equal in every way except for two of the couples. They didn't have the choice about marriage and, through this debate, their relationship has now been put on show. Hopefully, those children will never have to know the debate their parents had to go through.

I vote yes for good friends Mattie and Shane. Recently, when my partner, Matt, and I caught up with them, we were talking about how this debate has affected them. They are older; they came out in the eighties, when it wasn't popular to do so. They faced a lot of discrimination and this debate brought up a lot of old memories for them. It also brought up a lot of challenges in community, in society and with friends and family—debates they shouldn't have had to have. They've been together for 15 years. I look at their relationship and go, 'I just hope that so many other Australians can have the kind of wonderful, loving and respectful relationship that they have.' They may never choose to get married, but if we pass this bill it's a choice they get to have—just like Matt and I could have. Matt and Shane should be able to have the same choice.

I grew up in a household where my parents were not happily married. Married, yes—but not happy. There was not love. As a teenager, this did affect my views on marriage. People who knew me as a teenager would probably be quite surprised that I'm now very supportive of marriage. When I was young, because it wasn't a happy household, I saw marriage as a prison sentence, trapping wives and children in unhappy marriages, unsafe marriages and quite fixed gender roles. It wasn't until later in life when I started to attend the weddings of good friends that I realised that marriage today is about love.

Love is love, and that is why I support marriage equality. I vote yes today because, like many on the Labor side, I believe that marriage equality is a human right. It is about equity before the law. Across central Victoria and the electorate of Bendigo, an area that I'm so proud to represent in this place, I vote yes today for all of the local businesses and for the religious and the community leaders who have stood and said, 'It's time; vote yes.' The advocacy groups, the individuals and all the young people who many years ago signed the petitions and started the campaigns, I vote yes for them. They have declared publicly and loudly that they support marriage equality and that it's time. It's time for all of us in this place to respect them and their values, and it is time that we voted yes.

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