Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise today to briefly mention that a couple of weeks ago we once again celebrated Mardi Gras in Sydney. It was, as usual, a terrific night, with many hundreds of people marching and on floats. There was certainly a very strong presence from the Labor Party on the evening—a float organised by Rainbow Labor. Many thousands of people turned out to watch and to celebrate the Mardi Gras parade with those people who marched. There was a great number of friends and family members of gay and lesbian Sydneysiders. They were making the point that, while an enormous amount of change has occurred in recent decades—firstly, of course, to community attitudes but also to our laws here in Australia, with more than 80 pieces of legislation being changed to ensure that there is no longer discrimination against gay men and lesbians in our laws—and yet there continues to be one area of legislative change that has not yet proceeded. That is on the issue of the same sex marriage or marriage equality. So Mardi Gras was a great night because it was an opportunity to celebrate the huge number of changes that have occurred already, but it was also a night on which we remembered that there are still changes to come.