Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. I'm really conscious of the fact that, whenever I have previously begun a speech by saying that I won't talk for very long, I've rapidly made a liar out of myself. So I won't claim that now, but I will say that I have spoken over many, many years about my support for marriage equality and it is not my intention to go over that ground here today. I know that, like so many people in the community, what I want to see is this vote done as soon as possible, so I just want to place a few things on the record before allowing other speakers to move on.

The first thing I would say is: I am really delighted to finally be able to support this legislation in the House of Representatives and to see these laws changed forevermore. I am also really deeply sorry that it took so long. I know that in not just years to come but in days and weeks to come, people will be scratching their heads saying, 'What was all of the fuss about? Why didn't we just do this years ago?' That's something that we reflect upon as members of parliament, but I also reflect upon the impact that it's had on so many of our fellow Australians' lives that this has been delayed for so long.

The other thing I want to say here today is that whilst this is a huge and very positive step that we are taking, I don't want any member of this parliament to think that with the changing of the marriage laws, with marriage equality in Australia, that means the job is done, because I am firmly of the view that we need leaders in this place to continue the fight to stamp out homophobia in Australian society, and there is a long way to go in that struggle.

I will place on the record that I am the very proud representative of the electorate in South Australia that recorded the highest yes vote, with 70.1 per cent of Adelaide voters voting yes. I'm proud to represent that community and proud to represent their wishes when it comes to this vote. I also want to place on the record my thank you and my congratulations to all of the local campaigners in Adelaide. I had the chance to work with some of those in the yes campaign and to see people who came out to go doorknocking in their neighbourhoods, in the streets of Adelaide, who had never before gone out and tried to knock on doors and talk to total strangers about their views. I met people who had never before got involved in a political campaign and who had not got involved in speaking out in policy issues. I met really brave Australians who were going about our local neighbourhoods and explaining why this vote was so important to them. I want to place on the record my heart-felt thanks for those people.

I know there was a really hard time had by many. Many people were so appalled by the process this government put us all through, and particularly put the LGBTI community of Australia through, that there were many of them who thought about just sitting it out and turning their backs in disgust on the whole process, but then they realised that if this was the process we had to go through, we had to win it. They stood up, went out, got involved, got active and ran a fantastic local campaign. So thank you to all of those people, and I personally hope that you'll keep involved in local issues and that we will see much more of the new faces who were out there.

I mentioned it was an appalling process. I don't say this to try and make partisan political points here, but I do want to acknowledge what an incredibly hard time this was for so many Australians. There's been a lot of focus on LGBTI Australians and how hard this is. I am also really conscious of the fact that there are a lot of Australians out there who might have been thinking about how they were going to come out, and this made it harder. I spoke to one friend of mine who said that he remembers that in the years before he came out to his family he was looking for signs, because he knew that one day he was going to have to. He was constantly looking for signs. How would his family react? How would the community react? How would the neighbourhood react? I do think about how there would be young people in all of our communities today who are out there looking for these signs and having some of the really appalling materials that were distributed in so many communities placed in front of them, and about the impact that would have on them.

I mentioned at the outset that I don't believe that the job's done. I say that because I know that there is everyday homophobia in Australia at a level that every member of this House should say is absolutely unacceptable. We have seen, in our lifetimes, the power of the community to change what is socially acceptable and what's not. I know, in my lifetime, we've seen big changes when it has come to racism in the community. I'm not for a moment saying that the job's done, but I know that there are jokes, there are statements and there are jibes in the schoolyards of 10, 15 or 20 years' ago that would just not be deemed acceptable today. I know that there are changed standards of acceptable behaviour at sporting events and in our community more broadly, because leaders across Australia stood up and demanded that be so. That is the same with racism. That is the same with a whole range of discrimination. It's certainly the case with sexism, though there is a long, long way to go there too.

But we still do still see casual homophobia in Australia and we need to call it out. Too often we see people using the word 'gay' as a jibe. Too often we see criticisms levelled at people who are seen to be soft. Too often we see jokes that are still being made. I don't think that we do call it out in the same way that we do other forms of discrimination. So I would say that, whilst this is a very big step forward—it is a huge step forward and one that we should celebrate—we as leaders of our community should also take this opportunity to recommit to continuing to stamp out all forms of homophobia not just in our laws but also in our neighbourhoods. The reality is that we know that members of the LGBTI community face levels of suicide that are devastatingly high, mental health issues, violence—a range of indicators. This is a group of Australians who are suffering in a way that we as a parliament must always endeavour to prevent.

As I mentioned at the outset, I am really good at saying I'll be quick and then not being quick. I am going to wrap it up there, but I place on the record my thankyou to all of those who have worked and fought so hard to get to this place. My apologies to my fellow Australians that, as a member of this parliament, I've been a part of this being delayed for so long, but I am very, very proud to support changing that law now. I look forward to seeing that done this week.

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