Extremism
Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:53): I condemn the gathering which took place on the steps of this building on Saturday, where a hateful, transphobic protest was joined by neo-Nazis. It was deeply hurtful to LGBTIQ+ communities, to victims and survivors of the Holocaust and to all decent Victorians. It was not random or unexpected that the Nazis were there, as they have sought to dehumanise, humiliate and vilify transgender people from the very beginning. It is not good enough that there are politicians who are embracing extremists and who have opened the doors of this Parliament to them. It is not good enough that in my region last year the Liberal Party preferenced an actual neo-Nazi in Narre Warren South. A man who performed a Nazi gesture outside Auschwitz was preferenced above Labor. When you lie down with bigots, you get fascist fleas.
To the members of the trans community who are feeling targeted, who are feeling like they do not have a place, I want to say this: you belong. You belong in our schools, in our workplaces, in our streets and in our sports clubs. You belong in our Parliament, and you have a government that stands by you and will continue to stand by you every single day.