Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Families and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

I am glad that we are debating the Discrimination Free Schools Bill 2018. The path to this debate here in the Senate has been less than ideal. Mr Morrison's government seems determined to continue to treat the LGBTIQ community with tremendous disrespect. They have jumped first one way and then the other on questions of basic human rights for this community. The LGBTIQ community deserves more than merely to be an object in this government's culture wars and to have material concealed from them and, indeed, the broader community, in the pursuit of a by-election outcome in Wentworth.

The marriage survey proved that Australians are significantly more tolerant and accepting than this government and the coalition party room: 61.6 per cent of the community voted yes to allow people to marry the people that they love. I'd observe that that signals more than tolerance, more than acceptance. It signals an embrace of this community and its choices and unqualified support for equality. Still, every day, thanks to this government, Australians had to live through a nationwide survey on their right to marry who they love.

Now those same Australians have to sit through another conversation about whether people like them ought to be kicked out of schools, because the government have dragged their heels on releasing the Ruddock review and refuse to do so even now to enable an informed and reasoned debate. Just like the marriage equality debate, this is an argument being pushed by the conservative fringes of politics despite the overwhelming public opinion which does not support these old-fashioned views. Turning children away from schools because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is inconsistent with our values as a nation in 2018. Polling shows that 82 per cent opposed the discrimination law exemptions that allow schools to expel gay and lesbian students. There is a reason why the public view of these exemptions is so overwhelmingly in opposition. Parents and, indeed, all decent people baulk at the prospect of hurting a child. They baulk at the prospect of exiling them for being just who they are. Schools are supposed to be safe, nurturing places where our kids can grow and thrive, and it is unthinkable that they would be allowed to treat a child in this way.

We need to do more than deal with issues associated with children; we need to support the right of teachers to do the job that they love without being discriminated against on the basis of who they love. Teachers have the right to be safe and supported just like any Australian in the workplace. Again, in the public polling there is an indication that 79 per cent of Australians oppose schools' ability to sack teachers if they marry a person of the same sex. I don't believe that schools are considering using this power. Indeed, I have not heard of any schools that have asserted that they wish to do so. But the existence of that threat must weigh heavily on the minds of decent and dedicated teachers. I actually think Australians were shocked to find out that schools even had this power to begin with. Continuing to uphold this historic and outdated exemption only maintains a gap between what the public believe and our present laws.

I recognise how important, strong and genuinely held religious convictions are to the lives of millions of Australians. These Australians should have the freedom to worship and practice their faith without unreasonable impositions or burdens—and they do. It's one of the great success stories in Australia. People of all faiths practice their religion side by side without conflict and without penalty. But, like all rights and freedoms in our society, freedom of religion is not absolute. It must be balanced when it comes into tension with the rights and freedoms held by others, and this includes in our schools.

I am confident in our ability as a society to find this balance. We can do this. We've done it before. Like many nations, Australians suffered from sectarian tensions in our earlier history and it is to the great credit of those before us that we have largely put those sectarian tensions behind us. We navigated the social adjustments that came from the changing status of women and, as our population has changed, we have accommodated different faiths from all around the world. Our society is capable of balancing the rights and wishes of different groups with compassion, understanding and generosity. The debate about this bill and our progress towards reform is the next chapter in that tradition. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.