Govt rejects equality timeframe
The Federal Government has rebuffed calls for a timeframe on same-sex equality reforms and defeated the latest HREOC recommendations moved by the Greens yesterday.
Senator Chris Evans said the Government was working towards meeting the equality commitment, and agreed it should be held accountable, but declined to give specific assurances to the gay community just because the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is running a campaign.
We understand the lobby and pressure groups want to keep up the pressure on the Government, but the Government is doing a serious piece of work here. I’m not going to give that, Evans told the Senate.
Senator Nettle may be frustrated after 100 days, but nobody said we’d solve all these problems in 100 days. I want to make it clear there is no lack of resolve.
The Greens, with the support of the Democrats, were attempting to amend the Government’s Social Security and Veterans’ Affairs bill.
If we could just have a timetable outlined, so the gay and lesbian community would know what that is, so it can hold the Government accountable to that timeline, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said.
