Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens will also not be supporting this motion, but not because we don't support Father's Day. We think Father's Day is a terrific institution, but the motion, as worded, is factually incorrect. A father singing a lullaby to his child is not political, and any notion suggesting that honouring the role of the father on Father's Day as political is incorrect. However, Dads4Kids, the organisation behind the advertisement, has campaigned heavily against marriage equality and also advocates in support of gay conversion theory. So it is very clear in the context of the current debate about marriage equality, the campaigning about marriage equality and the postal plebiscite, that this advertisement needed an authorisation. We are in a different environment this year than at the same time as Father's Day last year. It is very clear that an authorisation is needed. It's standard practice for political broadcast advertising.