Thursday, 23 March 2023

Victoria Police

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:14): (143) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police, and the action I seek relates to the LGBTIQ+ community. Like so many in the community I was disturbed and distressed to see the confronting footage of the protest outside on the steps of this Parliament last Saturday when anti-trans protestors and neo-Nazis were seamlessly being offered protection by Victoria Police while opposing activists were reportedly pushed away, tackled, trampled upon and injured.

The community is right to express concerns and to question if Victoria Police are sympathetic in enforcing equitable treatment and protection of LGBTIQ+ Victorians. The widespread footage circulated in the media from Saturday’s protest is triggering for many in the LGBTIQ+ community. We have not been able to forget the long, dark history of police brutality and the homophobic and transphobic treatment of the community in Victoria. And we fear, whether rightly or wrongly, that the attitudes of the police have not changed, even 28 years after the infamous Tasty nightclub raid.

Next Friday 31 March is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, and the action I seek is that the police minister commit to meeting with organisations such as Transgender Victoria, Transcend Australia, Switchboard Victoria, Queerspace, Minus18, the Victorian Pride Lobby and the Zoe Belle Gender Collective to explain the police actions on Saturday 18 March 2023. Victoria Police must be seen to protect some of the most marginalised, vulnerable and continuously attacked people within our community.