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

Tuesday, 20 November, is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It's a day to acknowledge, to commemorate and to remember those in the trans community whom we've lost to violence or to suicide. It's a day to take stock of where we are at and to look forward to better days ahead. In Australia and, indeed, around the world, trans people continue to face daily discrimination, violence and vilification—like during the current Victorian election campaign—from government, from senators in this place and even from our Prime Minister himself. It's estimated that around the world one transgender person is murdered every 29 hours—almost one life lost a day—and that number is increasing. It's worth noting that it's primarily trans women of colour who are being murdered. This is devastating.

But is it any wonder that the number of trans people being murdered is increasing when transphobic, hateful bigots like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro are being elected into high office around the world? In Australia, we have a Prime Minister who labels a program to help teachers identify trans and gender diverse kids as 'gender whisperers', saying, 'Let kids be kids.' Imagine being a young trans or gender diverse kid and seeing your Prime Minister talk about you in this way. We should let trans kids be safe to be trans kids. We have some schools telling trans kids they are broken, pressuring them to repress their true selves and wanting to continue to be able to expel them if they don't.

One of our most important responsibilities is to ensure that all of our young people get safely through school and are given the chance to optimise their education, skills and opportunities in life. Discrimination and potential expulsion from school do not help any young person get well set up for life. Statistics from the Trans Pathways research report done by the Telethon Kids Institute make for sobering and essential reading. The report highlights the significant mental health challenges faced by trans young people as represented by the 859 Australians who participated in the research. They face challenges not because they are trans or gender diverse but because of the reaction from society to their gender identity. Some of the most concerning statistics include: that one in two young trans people—half!—have attempted suicide; that 80 per cent of young trans people have self-harmed; that 89 per cent have experienced peer rejection; and that 74 per cent have been bullied at school, university or TAFE. The Prime Minister—and all elected representatives—need only look at the statistics around young trans people's mental health to see that rhetoric of the kind we have seen from him is unacceptable and harmful.

Yet, in the face of the bigotry and hatred of some of our elected leaders, media organisations and sections of society, there is hope. So many incredible trans and gender diverse activists are leading the way in fighting for equality for all trans and gender diverse people. I commend you for your strength and your bravery. You're putting yourselves on the line in order to create a better future for all trans and gender-diverse people. I am proud to be part of the Australian Greens, a party that will always stand with you and fight alongside you for your rights. I say to all trans and gender-diverse people: we are committed to fighting with you to make your lives easier and safer so that you can thrive and have access to the health and other essential services you need. We are committed to eradicating violence and discrimination against trans people. We are committed to removing discriminatory requirements that prevent transgender people from affirming their gender on their birth certificates. We are committed to removing all discrimination against you in our laws and ensuring that programs to support you are rolled out in all schools across the country.

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance I remember the beautiful trans and gender-diverse people we have lost because our society refused to celebrate them. I commit to continue fighting arm in arm with our inspiring trans and gender-diverse activists so that the world is a safer and better place where we are proud of our diversity and where we celebrate every single one of us.

On Saturday, 24 November, the people in my home state of Victoria will go to the polls and have the opportunity to vote for the future they want for our great state. Labor has done well in marketing how progressive they are, but slick marketing cannot hide the truth. On so many important issues, it is hard to distinguish Labor from the Liberals. As they elect their next representatives in government, the choice for Victorians could not be clearer. They can vote for the old parties, who are beholden to their big corporate donors and will continue to act to please these vested interests, or they can vote for the Greens, who will fight for a future for all of us.

A vote for the Greens is a vote to protect Victoria's stunning and precious native forests from logging. It's a vote for the unique animals that live in our forests and it's a vote for our future water security. The Greens will create the great forest national park and complete the shift of all of our wood production into sustainable plantations, ensuring a real future for the people working in the timber industry. As for Labor and the Liberals, they are excited to continue the devastating logging of our native forests, with the timber overwhelmingly ending up being pulverised into woodchips for paper.

The Greens will fight for animal rights. We will ban duck shooting, jumps racing and greyhound racing. In contrast, Labor and the Liberals will continue taking donations from the racing and gambling industries. Actually, Labor will hand over $4 million in public money to the greyhound racing industry.

The Greens have got a plan to tackle dangerous global warming by shifting Victoria to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030, by doubling the Victorian Renewable Energy Targets, by phasing out all coal plants and by rolling out the wind and solar revolution across regional Victoria. In contrast, Labor will fast-track a new coal project, Labor and the Liberals support offshore gas drilling, and the Liberals want fracking.

The Greens will invest in the public transport solutions Melbourne and the rest of Victoria so desperately need, like extending Melbourne Metro to provide rail services to people in the western and south-eastern suburbs, planning for Melbourne Metro 2, bringing our transport system back into public hands, upgrading all tram routes and providing 30 new high-capacity trams every year for the next 10 years. We will make cycling safe by building the metropolitan bike network. These are real congestion-busting solutions as our state grows. Labor and the Liberals will continue the rort of taking donations from the private toll road industry and then proceeding with expensive, polluting toll roads that will do nothing to solve congestion.

The Greens will stop the sale of public housing to private property developers. We will build 80,000 public housing homes over 12 years to help end homelessness, and we will put a cap on rent increases of 2½ per cent and set minimum standards for rental properties. Labor and the Liberals will continue to sell off public housing land and refuse to cap rent increases.

The Greens will work with public health and drug policy experts to develop a two-year pill-testing trial in Victoria, because we know the war on drugs has failed and pill testing saves lives.

If you want to look at the voting records of the Greens and the Labor and Liberal parties in the Victorian parliament, let me summarise here. The Greens voted to stop discrimination against LGBTQI+ students and teachers in religious schools; the Andrews Labor government and the Liberal Party voted for discrimination. The Greens voted against offshore gas projects; Labor and Liberal voted for onshore gas projects. The Greens voted for a container deposit scheme; Labor and Liberal voted against a container deposit scheme. The Greens voted to save our precious public space in Federation Square from the Apple megastore, but Labor and Liberal voted for the Apple megastore. The Greens voted for an inquiry into the pokies industry; Labor and Liberal voted against that inquiry into an industry that donates massive amounts of money to both parties. This is why, this 24 November, I know that more Victorians than ever before will join me in voting 1 Greens for a future for all of us.