Thursday, 10 February 2022

LGBTIQA+ equality

Mr FOWLES (Burwood) (17:34): (6215) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Equality, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide additional support to LGBTIQ+ youth as the government implements our recently released LGBTIQ+ strategy. Since the creation of the equality portfolio in 2015 the Andrews Labor government has made incredible strides towards equality for LGBTIQ+ communities, because these communities are our family, our friends, our workmates and our neighbours. Our 10-year strategy outlines our plans to continue changing laws and policies and continue strengthening state-based services to drive meaningful change for LGBTIQ+ Victorians.

It is the next phase in our commitment to make Victoria more inclusive. We have made an immediate investment of $6.5 million in support for those Victorians. That is $2 million to deliver statewide inclusive training resources to improve LGBTIQ+ inclusion in universal services; $1.3 million to support initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of people with an intersex variation; $2 million to continue health and wellbeing supports for trans and gender-diverse Victorians; and $1.2 million to fund a statewide awareness campaign to celebrate and increase awareness of LGBTIQ+ experiences.

The Andrews government has fought hard to remove discriminatory provisions from the statute book, but it has been hard to endure the debate that has occurred as we have progressed with those positive reforms. For young LGBTIQ+ Victorians it is not just a debate, it is their lives. That is why it is so disappointing that the Victorian Liberals have continued to oppose us at every step of the way. In 2015 they voted against same-sex adoption. In 2016 they voted against birth certificate reform. In 2018 they promised to scrap the Safe Schools program. In 2021 in this chamber they did not even bother to turn up to vote on the ban on conversion therapy, and then some of their number voted against it in the other place.

I am also angry about the harmful debate we endured this week, kicked off by the Morrison government, and it has been to no avail anyway as the bill has now been shelved. No-one should have the right to sack a person just for being gay, trans, a divorcee or a single parent, and our laws here in Victoria ensure that that cannot happen. Any attempt to undermine the progress that the Andrews government has made in protecting Victorians from discrimination should be called out, and that is exactly what the Morrison government tried on this week. The appalling debate on this failed piece of legislation has only served to make the lives of trans kids harder. Their lives are hard enough. The Morrison government needs to wake up to the fact that these artificial culture wars have real victims and the depth and breadth of the damage they are causing goes well beyond the walls of the commonwealth Parliament. For all of our kids, it is time to kick this mob out.