ELECTION OPINION: Vote Liberal for real change
City of Sydney councillor Christine Forster
You only have one vote on September 7 and this election is the most important in a generation.
For many of us in the GLBTI community marriage equality is a key political issue at a federal level and the positions of the two major parties on this important question are virtually the same. Both are leaving it up to their new members of parliament to decide, after the election.
On all other issues there is a clear choice. The Liberal National Party leadership team is united, stable and experienced. Unlike Labor, they haven’t spent the last three years wondering who the leader is that will get them re-elected – they’ve spent that time preparing a genuine plan for Australia’s future.
The Coalition has committed to providing two million new jobs, lowering taxes and cutting red tape for businesses large and small. Unlike the big-spending Labor government, the LNP will work to get the budget back in the black and address the debt problem which is now spiralling out of control. The LNP has committed to building infrastructure in Sydney and around the country. It will also work to improve health care and education services by cooperating with the states to devolve decision-making to the local level, rather than concentrating power with a bureaucracy in Canberra.
A Coalition government will stop the boats by implementing a suite of proven policies which will dissuade people smugglers.
On marriage equality the Leader of the Opposition, my brother Tony Abbott, has been clear that he does not support change to the Marriage Act, but has also said it would be a matter for the party room.
“In the end, all democratic political parties over time reflect the will of the society that produces them,” he said during the leader’s debate in Brisbane. “I take a conservative position on it myself…but I don’t believe that I can necessarily impose my view on society…[marriage equality] will be a matter for our party, for our Coalition, if it were to come up in a future parliament.”
Marriage equality has been a contentious issue in democratic Western societies, but in our two most closely allied nations, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the push to achieve the reform has happened under the conservative side of politics, and it’s likely to be the same here. Liberal candidates like Sean O’Connor in Sydney, Kevin Ekendahl in Melbourne Ports and many others within the party are championing marriage equality and are pushing for our federal party room to have a conscience vote.
The Liberal Party has a proud history and a proven track record of leading change. The Liberals had the first woman elected to federal parliament, the first Indigenous Australian elected to federal parliament, the first out gay person elected to the New South Wales Lower House. Our party values individuals and embraces reform. A vote for the Liberals is a vote for real change.
Thank God we are all not related to Abbott and be completely deluded about his politics. Your brother Iwill go down in history as one of the most inadequate PM of this country. I guess blood is thicker than water so please go present your views to your brothers supporters and not us. That would be a true test of courage and conviction, convince them that they are wrong to discriminate us. Well I guess we shall see now if you brother is the person you have described in the article. I am eagerly looking forward to 3-4 years of hilarious tv bloopers for your loving brother
A gay Liberal? Really? How can you hold your head up in public?
You disgust me Christine!
Bullshit.
You are a sell out and a disgrace to your fellow LGBT community. Now your brother wants to strip 4.5bn in foreign aid. Totally purely racist, homophobic small minded biggot.
So, people can give Rudd the benefit of the doubt when not long ago he showed no support for marriage equality, and then bam, changed his mind after months and years of “much reflection in good Christian conscience”, but people won’t place the same faith to the opposition.
Hypocrisy is rife with you people. How quickly you all forget.
Gay marriage is important, but it’s not pivotal to gay survival – we’ve lasted this long. There are more pressing issues to attend to before we so carelessly place faith in a man who so quickly changes his mind as he does the leadership.
Policy is key, not pandering.
There to no good reason to place any faith in the Coalition on this issue while Tony Abbott is leader. Abbott opposes marriage equality. He has described it as “the gay marriage distraction”. He has said he personally will do nothing to advance it. He has consistently opposed a true conscience vote on it by the Coalition. He seems to have been quite unconcerned by John Howard describing marriage equality as “nonsense” on the campaign trail this week. The single most prominent obstruction to marriage equality in Australia since Tony Abbott became leader is Tony Abbott.
Also re Rudd’s appearance on Q & A – at least he has put himself in the hot seat & allowed himself to be questioned. Where is Abbott? Can’t answer a question without it being scripted. Also re him so called ‘disrespecting’ the pastor’s view on Q & A what about Abbott disrespecting our PM with his ‘does this man ever shut up’ comment. Highlights to me what a bully Abbott is & full of his own self importance.
There is so much wrong with the LNP it’s a joke! Even without marriage reform, let’s see, they DON’T release their costings till AFTER the media black out to avoid scrutiny, (nothing to hide apparently) and as far as the ‘stop the boats’ (all they can keep saying like parrots) they have said once elected they will stop the media reporting WHEN a boat has arrived – so they can hide that they are ineffective in that too… Nothing to hide here at all. That’s just those 2 points alone! Learn from what Campbell Newman is doing to us in Qld… Don’t vote for this chauvinistic pig who can’t even have an intelligent conversation or answer a direct question without a pre written script!
I’m disgusted by this woman’s support for this backwards, deeply sexist and homophobic man.
Is Christine even Gay? Or is she a mole sent to try and divide our beliefs and worm the LNP tendrils in to our community.
You can’t fool us Christine. The only good thing about an Abbott government (which perhaps you’re actually, secretly aware of), is that it will fan the flames of anger our community feels about being treated as second class citizens, promoting a new, stronger movement towards equality.
Though I’d still prefer the much easier route of voting in a Government that is putting same-sex marriage at the forefront of their election campaign and not just treating it as ‘nonsense’ and the ‘fashion of the moment’.
Far too long has Christine been pulled out and waved in front of the public to say ‘my brother isn’t a homophobic bigot he’s just misunderstood’
Far too long have Abbots daughters been pulled out and waved in front if the public to say ‘our dad isn’t a misogynist, he’s just a dag’
Far too long has Abbot pretended to care for anyone other than himself and for the next three years there’s a risk that we’ll have to accept his hateful bigotry day after day. But I will NOT accept his sister saying liberals under abbot are our hope for equality. Ive lost all respect for her as a person with this. Shame Christine.
Now, now, people. Be nice. Equal rights means gay people have the right to be fucking, fucking, fucking deluded morons just like straight people can be.
I haven’t seen any of this so-called “plan”. All I’ve heard are heartless and terrible pronouncements from various Liberal thugs who want to take from the poor and give to the rich.
And now her brother has given an interview to the Australian to announce… wait for it… a “Freedom Comissioner” who will roll back discrimination laws and re-instate “religious freedoms” – such as the “freedom” to discriminate against LGBTQ.
Christine, you’re a poor excuse for a lesbian, and no friend to any of us,
What the f**k? I have no words. You, Christine, are utter two-faced scum, and you should feel f**king ashamed of yourself.
You silly cow.
Christine Forster is a woman so desperate for her brother’s love and acceptance, that should would forgo her rights to live and express herself as she was made, and be treated as an equal under the law.
Tony Abbott has also openly abused his sister’s status of being a lesbian, whilst actively denying her respect, love, support, equality, and her humanity.. the worst thing is she has ACTIVELY allowed it.
Christine, he says he ‘loves you’ but to treat you the way he does is nothing but DNA admiration… Love would see him actively ensuring that you were as equal as every other person in the country. Love would see him defending you to the death. Love would mean that his ‘politics’ ran last to his your welfare and human rights.
Christine, you are a woman who needs support, love and kindness to see that NOBODY deserves to treat you that way, ESPECIALLY not family… You are still so full of shame that you would allow someone to treat you so badly. You need a massive wake up call – if he were my brother, I would not stand by and let him use me as his ‘GLBTI playing card’…
Please stop defending someone who is so indefensible. I would love to see you lead from the front,stand up to his abhorrent treatment of the GLBTI community (and you) and show Australia what a strong woman you are. Show Australia that NOBODY deserves to be bullied and have their rights denied to them, ESPECIALLY by family.
If he loved you, he would allow you to be free… He doesn’t truly love you.
I love this comment so much.
“The Liberal Party has a proud history and a proven track record of leading change.”…but she doesn’t say on what, exactly.
The LNP has record of the exact opposite on gay civil rights issues.
1. Specifically banning same-sex marriage in 2004.
2. John Howard refusing to let his party support a raft of amendments to Federal laws removing discrimination against same-sex couples. Only after Howard’s fall in 2007 did is party vote Yes with Labor.
3. Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party voting in 2013 to allow church-run but taxpayer-funded aged care homes to refuse admission to gay and lesbian people. Not a single Christian aged care provider supported this position.
Christine, stop the bullshit. You must acknowledge your party’s homophobic past if you want us to believe your promises about its future.
She has obviously read the pamphlet.