George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Rice, I am not aware that Margaret Court is speaking at a Liberal Party fundraiser. If she is, I assume the reason she is speaking is because she has been invited to. I am not familiar with the particular remarks you have quoted. By the way, I have met Margaret Court. She came to see me a couple of years ago to put her point of view in the debate about gay marriage. She is a significant Australian. As a younger woman, she was a great contributor to Australia as a sportswoman. In her mature years, she has become a minister of a church, as I understand it, and has strongly conservative views on gender issues and the question of the rights of gay people.

I do not share those views, but, might I remind you, Senator Rice, that, in being a prominent opponent of same-sex marriage, Margaret Court represents a point of view shared by, according to the opinion poll evidence, about a third of Australians. I do not share those views; obviously you do not either. But Margaret Court's opposition to same-sex marriage, so far as we can tell from opinion polls, is a point of view that represents about a third of the people in Australia—about eight million people. I am surprised to hear you, Senator Rice, of all people, coming into this chamber to attack the rights of people to express minority points of view, because, Senator Rice, the political party you represent has the support of about 10 per cent of the Australian people. Margaret Court's views on same-sex marriage have the support of more than three times that many Australians. So of course she is entitled to her point of view.