Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this marriage equality bill, the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. This is truly a great day because, with the passage of this legislation, it means that love wins. This is a bill and this is a debate that are essentially all about equal rights and fairness. The bill and parliament's support for it have been a very long time coming, and this is a day for which many Australians have worked so hard. It's a historic day for our parliament and, indeed, for our country.

I support marriage equality, as I believe that everyone should be able to marry the person they love. It's as simple as that. I voted for marriage equality when it came before the parliament in 2012 and I'll proudly vote in support of it again. What a great day it was on Wednesday, 15 November, at 10 am when we learnt that Australians had voted for equality; Australians had voted for love. It was a great day for LGBTI Australians and their families and friends, and a great day for our entire community, because extending and expanding any human right enriches all of our lives and our entire society.

As I said, this campaign's all about equality and rights. Fighting for equality and those rights were huge numbers of people right across the nation, who were able to deliver such a great result. In total, 7.8 million Australians, in a historic and overwhelmingly positive vote, said yes, and this was carried in every state and territory. One hundred and thirty-three of the 150 federal electorates recorded a majority 'yes' response, with a resounding 61.6 per cent across the country voting in support of marriage equality. I'm very proud that, in my electorate of Richmond, 67.9 per cent of people voted yes, recognising that equality matters. Indeed, my electorate had one of the highest numbers of 'yes' votes in New South Wales.

In terms of the campaign, I particularly want to acknowledge the activism of young people during the survey. So many of them got involved in a campaign for the very first time. They got on the electoral roll. They had conversations with family and friends. They campaigned hard. They worked hard to make this happen, because it mattered.

I also want to commend the Equality Campaign for their tireless work in recognising that all citizens have a right to marry the person they love. Their campaign comprised more than 15,000 volunteers who made over a million calls, knocked on over 100,000 doors and distributed more than a million stickers, 60,000 placards, 250,000 posters and five million leaflets. What an amazing effort! They helped organise the largest LGBTI rights rallies in Australia's history. I want to also commend the more than 2,000 organisations across Australia who registered their support for marriage equality. This great result demonstrates overwhelmingly that our families, friends and colleagues in the LGBTI community deserve to have their committed and loving relationships recognised under our law.

I've told the House before about friends who've had to marry overseas because they weren't able to be lawfully married here in their own country. I've spoken before about Wil and Paul from Mullumbimby, who were married under the British flag at the British consulate in Brisbane. I thank both of them for their continued advocacy for marriage equality in this country. Indeed, Wil's enthusiasm and support is truly inspirational. I've also told the House the story of two of my constituents and good friends, Julie and Cas, who were married in the United States in 2015. One of the most exciting aspects for them was the fact that they received a congratulatory message from then President Obama. I'd like to read that message to the House:

Congratulations to you on your wedding day. May this special time be blessed with love, laughter and happiness. We wish you all the best as you embark on your journey together, and we hope your bond grows stronger with each passing year.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.

This meant so much to them: the President of the United States endorsing and congratulating them on being married. At the time, Julie and Cas highlighted that this was in stark contrast to the current situation in Australia. I said in the House, in my original contribution:

If the White House can turn rainbow, then surely this House can do it too.

Just recently some very good family friends, Mary and Amanda, were married in Hawaii, and it was indeed a beautiful wedding, right next to the beach, as the sun was setting, at Waikiki. The ceremony so eloquently showed the couple's strong love and commitment to one another. It also captured the truly stunning magic and charm of Honolulu. We were so pleased to have been invited to share this special occasion with Mary's and Amanda's family and friends. Like all weddings, there was lots of good fun and laughter, but it did highlight that they should have been able to lawfully have this great occasion, their wedding, at home, at any one of the equally stunning locations we have here. With the passage of this legislation, they and others will soon be able to rightfully get married in Australia.

We in Labor opposed the plebiscite, the postal survey, for very good reasons. We opposed it not just because of the cost but because of the damage we knew it would cause and, in fact, did cause. It was distressing to learn that across Australia there was an increase of between 20 and 40 per cent in calls to many LGBTI helplines and mental health services. It was upsetting to hear about the number of unauthorised and factually-incorrect leaflets distributed by the 'no' campaign and the many cruel emails and some social media posts. We opposed the survey because we didn't want to put people through the pain that we knew they would inevitably suffer because of the survey. We wanted this decision to go to the parliament, to have the determination made here.

We didn't want the postal survey, but when it was forced upon us we fought passionately for equality and the right for all Australians to be equal under the law. Quite frankly, it was not right that Australians were asked to vote on whether their fellow citizens deserve equal rights. It was hurtful and insulting to so many of those in the LGBTI community. But once the decision was made and the postal survey was in place, we in Labor were committed, rightly, to campaign very strongly for this great result, and I commend everyone I know in my area who worked very, very hard to make sure we had a resounding 'yes' vote—which was returned. A lot of people in the community worked extremely hard because we wanted to make sure we had a strong voice and we had a strong result, which did occur.

Of course, the recognition of same-sex relationships is an issue for many people; it is a struggle that has gone on for decades, and it's been a very painful journey over a long period of time for many people and for a diversity of reasons. It has been very harmful and very hurtful. Indeed, it has been very harmful and very hurtful for many young people as well; it has been very difficult and challenging for them in terms of coming out to their family and friends about their sexuality.

I'd like to take a minute to reflect on an issue relating to young people—that is, the issue of youth suicide. I want to do that from the perspective of my former job as a general duties police officer. As a police officer, one of the jobs my colleagues and I attended and investigated on far too many occasions was, very tragically, suicide involving young people. I know for a fact that on many occasions those young people had committed suicide because they were either being bullied because they were gay or because they were yet to come out and tell their family and friends, and were fearful of the rejection and discrimination that they may face. Of course, what is most tragic about youth suicide is the lost potential, the lost dreams, the lost ambitions. We as individuals and communities and governments have to do better. We must do better. This is a very real debate. It's about how people will be affected. It's about young people's lives, and we should always be very cognisant of that; we should remember that all the time. That's why all of us, as community leaders, have a responsibility to speak out regularly and publicly to support younger people and send them a very positive message to let them know they are valued, to let them know their relationships are valued and to let them know their families are valued.

The passage of this legislation does send such an important message about equality, and it's a particularly strong message that same-sex relationships are valued and they're recognised by the community. That is also what this legislation does. I'm proud of voting yes when it comes to this legislation, and I'm very proud that my electorate of Richmond overwhelmingly voted yes as well, which is certainly what people had said to me right throughout this campaign. Indeed over many years, many people in my community had certainly wanted to see this parliament address marriage equality and pass this legislation—particularly from the viewpoint of making sure that everyone's human rights were recognised.

I'm also very proud of my country for voting yes to equality, and doing so in such overwhelming numbers. It's wonderful. I certainly look forward to the number of weddings that will allow same-sex couples to declare their love as equal under the law. How wonderful that will be. And of course I'm very much looking forward to the number of weddings to be held in the most beautiful part of Australia, northern New South Wales. We look forward to many joyous occasions and many weddings. It already is the most popular part of Australia for weddings; many people go there for their weddings, so we are looking forward to so many more wonderful celebrations. Today in this parliament we have a remarkable achievement and, indeed, a historic event. It's a great day to be celebrating that love wins. It is wonderful, and I commend this bill to the House.

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