David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to rise in the House today to support the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. This bill will allow two people the freedom to marry in Australia regardless of their sex or gender. The bill also recognises foreign same-sex marriages in Australia. The requirements for a legally valid marriage otherwise remain the same under the Marriage Act. This is a bill that is faithful to the fundamental values of the Labor Party—that is, the resolve to remove discrimination wherever we find it, whether that discrimination be based on race, religion, wealth, gender or sexuality.

As a senator for Victoria, I spoke in the other place on 20 September 2012 in support of what was then the Marriage Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2012. On that occasion I articulated why I, as a Catholic brought up and schooled in the Catholic traditions, earnestly believed that marriage equality was completely consistent with Christian faith. For this reason, I was particularly pleased to see that, according to recent surveys, some 67 per cent of Australian Catholics voted yes in the recent marriage equality survey. I was one of them.

Moreover, while I support Australia's protection of religious freedoms, I have never believed that religious doctrine should ever be enshrined in our nation's laws. Only one-third of marriages today are solemnised in a religious ceremony. The notion that marriage belongs to the church cannot be justified.

I believe that placing a restriction on marriage so that it can only occur between a man and a woman is not relevant to our modern and—for so many—secular society. What is important is that, when people find a loving relationship, they are afforded the dignity and the respect of that relationship by their fellow Australians.

I supported marriage equality in the Senate in 2012. In a letter to Australian Marriage Equality in August 2013, I said I looked forward to voting for marriage equality in that year, 2013. Now we have arrived at the last sitting week of 2017.

I should make this point, as it's been made on several occasions: the achievement of marriage equality as Labor policy in 2011 was a significant landmark for my movement and, I think, for the debate in Australia. As so many others have done, I would like to single out the work of Rainbow Labor in particular. This group worked tirelessly and bravely to change the opinions and the stance of the Australian Labor Party. In so doing, I think it again demonstrated the power of progressive social movements through and within the Labor Party and again demonstrated that the national conference of the great Australian Labor Party is the crucible for real change in this country.

The vote could have happened, of course, in August of this year, but the coalition, as we know, resolved to pursue a postal survey rather than instead moving immediately to a free vote in this parliament. This is, in my view, a terrible abrogation of leadership by the Prime Minister, and I fear it was the fruit of a factional fix to paper over divisions within the Liberal party room rather than a legitimate public policy position. As a consequence, instead of letting parliamentarians carry out their proper role as legislators, the Prime Minister presented Australians with a non-binding opinion poll and a $122 million bill. Worse, the Prime Minister resolved that LGBTIQ Australians should be subjected to a unique process of lawmaking, one that applies to no other group of Australians.

On 24 August, the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Attorney-General joined me at a marriage equality roundtable I hosted in the electorate of Batman. We were joined by many parents, carers and family members from rainbow families across my electorate. The stories they shared with us about their lives, their experience of discrimination, the hurtful things their children were hearing and their anxiety about a new, painful, lower standard of public and private debate were very literally heart wrenching. Our message to those loving families was as clear as our duty: Labor would stand with our LGBTIQ friends and neighbours.

Following that roundtable, a group of concerned mums and dads in my community came together to discuss how we could demonstrate our support for rainbow families and the LGBTIQ community during this marriage equality debate that the survey engendered. Together they organised the Darebin Family Fun Day, a day of fun for all families celebrating and supporting local rainbow families. Hundreds attended and my family and I were among them. The will of my community is clear and it is strong. We want marriage equality now.

Throughout the survey, the Labor Party and local Labor Party branches worked tirelessly to promote a 'yes' vote, to make people aware of the issues in the debate and to make sure that everyone in my community was cognisant of the fact that there was a survey and they must participate in it, and indeed there was an enrolment drive, which realised an astonishing 5,000 new enrollees, most of them young, underlining the fact that this was a cause that particularly captured the emotion and the passion of young Australians. A great part of the credit for the result, of course, belongs to them and their participation.

On 15 November, the result of the postal survey affirmed this truth. A resounding majority of Batman voted yes to marriage equality, with a very high participation rate. Some 83.9 per cent of voters in Batman responded to the postal survey, with 71.2 per cent responding with a 'yes' vote. This was a great success for the 'yes' campaign and I would like to thank the many people involved locally and across the community. I would like to thank every local shop and small business that put up a 'yes' sign in their shop window. I would like to thank the nearly 5,000 local residents, mostly young, who enrolled to participate in this survey.

It is long past time for equality for LGBTIQ Australians. It is long past time for us tell children of same-sex couples that their families will now be recognised as equal to any other. It is long past time for atonement for the inaction of the past. It is long past time for this parliament to affirm what many of us have long known, that the union of LGBTIQ couples is deserving of the same dignity and the same respect that is given to other couples under our law. It is long past time for the parliament to implement the will of the people. My vote will be for loving couples who have long committed to each other but are held to be inferior under our current marriage law. My vote will be for the advancement of equality.

Same-sex couples are not asking for any more, or indeed any less, than anyone else in this country. They are asking for equal dignity in the eyes of the law and this parliament can and should and must grant them that right. Passing the marriage amendment bill in 2017 to remove discrimination and allow two individuals, regardless of sex, sexuality and gender identity, the opportunity to marry will create what the Constitution of our country intends, and that is a separation of church and state. The bill is fair and it strikes a balance, ensuring legal acceptance for everyone's beliefs and their values. The people have said yes. The Senate has said yes. Now it is time for us to get it done. I will be very proud indeed to vote for this bill, and I commend the bill to the House.

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