Great moments for equality

Amid the day to day shifts, amendments, inquiries and delays of the Rudd Government’s same-sex equality reforms there were many supportive speeches given by politicians from most parties. Here are some of the memorable quotes that deserve recognition.

 

Arch Bevis 

ALP,  Brisbane

The key ingredient that we surely must acknowledge in a relationship is the open, honest, loving nature with which those individuals embrace one another. It is fundamentally wrong for a society to deny people the same rights purely because of their sexual preference or similar personal attributes.

 

Simon Birmingham 

Liberal Senator, SA

I wish to pay tribute to those who have fought so hard against discrimination over the years … and finish my remarks in acknowledging that, whether it be against racial discrimination, religious discrimination, sexual discrimination or gender discrimination, many have fought a good fight to overcome discriminatory laws and measures and intolerances in society. It is pleasing to see that those who have fought that fight are winning.

 

Bob Brown 

Greens Senator, TAS

I have … lived long enough as a gay member of the Australian community to have seen enormous changes: from the period when it was a crime, at least for male homosexuals, to have a loving relationship … , which was punishable by many years in jail, to this historic day, where discrimination on the basis of sexuality is being removed from the statute books by the parliament. I congratulate all parties who are contributing and who have worked so hard towards this.

 

George Brandis 

Liberal Senator, QLD

The Opposition does not regard this legislation as an attack on the family or upon family values. I have never been able to understand the argument that the formation of households is somehow a threat to family values. By recognising and supporting the formation of stable households by gay and lesbian couples, the legislation if anything reinforces social stability.

 

Mark Butler 

ALP, Port Adelaide

The truest measure of an enlightened society is how it treats difference and diversity. The history of humanity, it is fair to say, has been pretty ordinary at that, and, for most of our history, we have seen awful discrimination on almost any grounds imaginable. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference remains a deep and continuing scar on our society and many other societies in the world … this is long unfinished business that has remained like a stain on the soul of Australia.

 

Greg Combet 

ALP, Charlton

Until the bill becomes legislation we will have the situation where people in the Public Service of our nation are denied the benefits they deserve for no better reason than old-fashioned and outdated discrimination… I would also like to congratulate all the activists in the community who for many years have been fighting these forms of discrimination. I hope [community activists] take some encouragement that this government has got the courage and commitment to address this form of unfair, unjustified and abhorrent discrimination.

 

Trish Crossin 

ALP Senator, NT

I want people to perhaps think about the impact that [discrimination] has on families when a son or a daughter chooses to identify as a lesbian or a homosexual and seeks to fall in love with a member of the same sex. As a family and as a parent I am sure that you would want that child -” no matter who they choose to love in their life -” to have the same rights and access as other members of our society. And the fact is that these people are very happy. The fact is that there are some elements in this society, including myself, who believe that these people ought to have the right to marry.

 

Annette Ellis 

ALP, Canberra

It is a matter of shame for both sides of this parliament that it has taken so long for this to happen. It is hard to believe that it is almost 20 years since sexual preference was added as an additional ground of discrimination under the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission regulations.

 

Petro Georgiou 

Liberal, Kooyong

Our laws discriminate against same-sex couples and their families in all areas of life and in all manner of everyday experience… This differential treatment is unreasonable and it is unfair. It is inconsistent with the fundamental values we espouse as a nation and it has persisted for too long… Debates over wording and semantics have preoccupied us for far too long.

 

Sarah Hanson-Young 

Greens Senator, SA

To think that in 2008, we are only now beginning to see steps to remove discrimination against same-sex couples and their families is an indictment of former Liberal and Labor governments’ failure to act on what is a fundamental human right.

 

Gary Humphries 

Liberal Senator, ACT

I do not understand what social harm is addressed by keeping in place articles of petty discrimination against those who enter into a same-sex relationship. I have a longstanding commitment to supporting that right of choice, which is open to all in our free society, and I welcome the bill as a mechanism to ensure the rights of same-sex partners, and the dependants of those relationships, to access facilities such as superannuation.

 

David Feeney 

ALP Senator, VIC

We adopted our policy in the full knowledge that some of the supporters of those opposite would use it to play cheap wedge politics against us in the broader electorate. I think that is because the other side assumed -” perhaps, I dare say, wrongly -” that there was a reservoir of intolerance in the community into which they could tap for their own venal political purposes. Despite this and despite any attendant political risks, the Labor Party has adopted a policy to end discrimination because it is, of course, the right thing to do.

 

Joe Ludwig 

ALP Senator, QLD

These reforms are long overdue. The reforms… will remove discrimination and replace it with decency and fairness. The policy will make a practical difference to the lives of a group of our fellow Australians who have suffered discrimination for far too long.

 

Robert McClelland, 

Attorney-General

It is time to stop treating people differently under Commonwealth laws or programs as a result of who they are in a relationship with or indeed who they love. It is also time to stop treating children differently under Commonwealth laws or programs because of the sexual orientation of their parents.

 

Christine Milne 

Greens Senator, TAS

I would like to acknowledge the tremendous work and sacrifice of the activists in this community who have worked so long to end discrimination and who to continue to work until same-sex marriage in Australia is achieved… Rodney Croome and Nick Toonen because of the campaigns that they ran for a long time, but also high-profile Justice Michael Kirby for having the courage to speak out as he has done.

 

Brendan Nelson 

Liberal, Bradfield

We believe in the equal right of every Australian citizen to be treated with dignity and respect. We believe that every Australian is equally entitled to a fair go regardless of who they are, where they live or whether their parents are rich or poor. They are entitled to equal treatment regardless of the colour of their skin, the God whom they worship … the political beliefs which they hold, their gender or professed sexual orientation.

 

Shayne Neumann

ALP, Blair

It is simply wrong to penalise children on the basis of the sexual orientation of their parents. The best interests of children must be the paramount consideration in all legislation. It is unacceptable that more than 20,000 Australians are discriminated against and their families and children denied fundamental financial and work-related entitlements which, for example, my wife and I and our children enjoy in what is often described as a traditional marital relationship.

 

Graham Perrett

ALP, Moreton

Unfortunately, there will be some people in the community who will argue that we should maintain the status quo and should continue and protect the discrimination. I ask you to please look in your hearts. Please think of the consequences of such negativity. Think of [my gay brothers] Nick, Simon, [and his partner] Michael. How could you not but change? … This is not the time for hate. Now is the time for all fair-minded Australians to speak out in support.

 

Louise Pratt

ALP Senator, WA

A great many [gay families] have had the courage to share their stories in order to further the cause of equality… these stories highlight how the pernicious effects of discrimination against same-sex couples spread out beyond the lives of the individual gay and lesbian people involved; and how each individual instance of discrimination flows through into the broader community where it creates unnecessary burdens and administrative complexities, restricting access to essential services, encouraging intolerance, undermining relationships and fostering homophobia.

 

Christopher Pyne

Liberal, Sturt

I abhor discrimination in all its forms. Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, age or sexuality is to be condemned. The philosophy of liberalism does not countenance discrimination.

 

Malcolm Turnbull

Liberal, Wentworth

Discriminating against people on the basis of their sexual orientation is as abhorrent as discriminating against them on the basis of their religion or their race.

 

Jim Turnour

ALP, Leichhardt

Australia is the lucky country. We live in a healthy democracy, we have a strong human rights record and we have freedom of speech and freedom of press. But our nation’s treatment of same-sex couples is unacceptable. In the eyes of the Commonwealth law, they are not recognised. As a country, we still have a way to go to ensure equality for all of our residents.

 

Penny Wong

ALP Senator, SA

This is a reform that has been argued for and campaigned on by a great many members of the Australian community-”in particular, members of the gay and lesbian community-” … who have worked very hard to achieve the equality in Australia that is being provided for in this legislation.

 

Dana Wortley

ALP Senator, SA

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.

 

Nick Xenophon

Independent Senator, SA

I am old enough to remember the terrible and tragic death of Adelaide University Law School lecturer Dr George Duncan, who died essentially as a … result of being a homosexual man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He drowned as a result of a hate crime. It was an immense injustice … Over thirty years later, these events continue to underpin my support for the end of any form of discrimination against same-sex couples.