Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I am so pleased to be here today to be part of making marriage equality law in this country with this Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. Over five years ago I voted yes for marriage equality in this parliament. At the time I said that my belief in fairness, equality, compassion and the importance of striving for a world without discrimination meant that I had no choice but to vote for a change to the Marriage Act to ensure same-sex couples had the right to marry the person they love. For me this sentiment is as true today as it was back in 2012. While marriage equality did not become law in 2012, this week, five years or more later, we will finally see the law changed to allow two people who love each other to make a lifelong commitment to each other, and this commitment will now be properly recognised in Australia's law.

This has certainly been a long time coming for the LGBTIQ community. The persistence over so many years of so many activists and supporters who have not given up, who have made the case time and time again to politicians and the wider community, is to be commended and celebrated. Your work over the years really does show that persistence pays off. For so many people and families in my electorate, I know that the postal vote process was extremely difficult, but I was inspired by so many locals in the southern suburbs of Adelaide that I met who, despite the process being personally difficult, decided to campaign for a 'yes' vote because they knew, whatever the personal consequence, it was the right thing to do.

In particular, I would like to make mention of one group in the southern suburbs: Pride of the South, a group who for many years have provided support and promoted inclusion for our LGBTIQ community members. The group actively worked together to have conversations with members of our community, to tell their stories about why voting yes was so important. In fact there were so many people who shared their stories around the country. These people were brave, they were strong and they were determined. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Pride of the South Committee for both their efforts during the 'yes' campaign and their ongoing work in supporting our LGBTIQ community. They are Llewellyn Jones, Shayne Glaslow, William Rattley, Mel Bennett, Jen Sobey, Marc Roberts, Michael Tomas and Annette Wedding. They have shown immense leadership and courage, and I salute them. I would also like to thank the Flinders University Queer Society for the extensive work they did in support of the yes campaign in the south—in particular, Sean Henschke, who worked tirelessly and with so much passion to get the message across. I would also like to thank Jemma Slevec, who lent her support to the South Says Yes campaign.

There were many people who volunteered all around the country, and I would like to thank them also. I would like to thank those who fought for change in South Australia, but I would particularly like to mention Emmanuel Cusack, who is in the gallery tonight, who coordinated the yes campaign in South Australia. I know that this campaign was a labour of love for you, but it was also a huge amount of work. The support gained through the results in South Australia and in my electorate show that your campaign had a huge amount of support, and your work is testimony to that.

Throughout the survey process, there were some people who did try to make the debate about something else. They tried to make the debate about Safe Schools, about freedom of speech and about political correctness, but it wasn't about any of those things. It was simply about one thing—equality before the law. It was about giving LGBTIQ Australians the same right as everyone else. It was about acknowledging that Australia is not a country of discrimination. We are a country of acceptance, equality and diversity. Now, there is one misconception that people listening to this debate might not recognise, and that is that there are religious protections in this bill. No minister of religion is required to solemnise marriage. There is no watering down of the current religious protections. This is merely about equality, it is about fairness and it is about love.

Throughout the survey process, I spoke to a lot of local people who shared their personal stories with me, and I would like to thank them for doing that. Talking about yourself is a difficult thing to do. Sharing deeply personal information is difficult, and I value those stories that you shared with me. I would like to share a few with the House. There was one gentleman who has two sons, one gay and one straight. He said that he loves his sons equally and that all he really wants is for them both to be treated equally under the law. I spoke to many same-sex couples with children, who told me that all they really want is for their families to be given the same respect and certainty as every other family in this country.

There is one story in particular that I wish to share with the House today, and that is the story of Llewellyn and his life partner, Lyndon. The past weekend marked 10 years since Lyndon asked Llewellyn to marry him. After their engagement, Lyndon and Llewellyn waited patiently for same-sex marriage to be legalised so that they could finally formalise their love and get married. In 2010, devastatingly, Lyndon passed away. Llewellyn shared his story with many people during the survey process. Llewellyn said that he will live with the grief forever that he was not able to marry the love of his life. What he wants now is to ensure that this never happens to anyone else, and that is why I am so incredibly pleased and proud to be part of this parliament as we legalise for marriage equality, because this legislation ensures couples like Lyndon and Llewellyn will never have to wait again to be treated equally. Today, this parliament is saying to every LGBTIQ Australian: 'We accept you for who you are. You are enough. You are equal.'

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