Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

the competency or the capacity of same-gender people to raise children. In fact, on a case by case study, there would be arguments that children in the care of same-gender parents—I use the term 'parents' carefully—or a child in the custody of two same-gender adults, in many instances I accept that you could compare and find that for each case where those children are well-nurtured and loved, and developed accordingly, there would equally be 10 man-woman marriage relationships where the children were worse-off. There is no question about that. That is a matter accepted by everybody. As a police officer, I went into hundreds and hundreds of homes where the man and woman, married or not, did not deserve to have those children in their care. So the question is not about the necessary competency. Taking vows in marriage does not reflect the competency of the two adults to provide an appropriate home for children. But developing children have the right to have parents of different genders, in my view. The evidence that Senator Wright failed to—