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Australian politics discrimination equality gay lesbian politics equal rights - Rainbow Reporter

Pre-election pollie-shopping

March 7th 2010 05:52
Bob Brown
Eat your Greens !


As we get into election season, I’m shopping for pollies. Here’s what I want from mine.

EQUAL MARRIAGE

The ‘nationally consistent system of state-based registers’ the government wants remains a joke.


The NSW proposal is the feeblest effort yet, and not consistent with any existing scheme.

The Victorian Register is fraying, with the VCAT decision – currently being appealed to the Supreme Court – that its residency restrictions are distinctly elastic.

Because the state-based schemes are all different, they are and will likely remain non-transferable from state to state. Marriage is the only sensible solution to this farce.

NEW ENFORCEABLE EQUALITY LEGISLATION

Unequal pay’s been illegal for 40 years. Women are still only paid 82.5 per cent of what men earn - less than in 1985. A law that does the opposite of what it intends, clearly isn’t working.

That’s just one example. Equality and anti-discrimination laws are ineffective, because they make the victim – the person with the least resources – do all the work. The law should assume that an act which has the effect of discriminating IS discrimination – unless the alleged discriminator can prove otherwise.

The Equal Opportunity Commissioners must be given the power to use its resources to investigate and prosecute on behalf of a victim. A toothless law is a worthless law.


We need a comprehensive law, backed by a Human Rights Charter, run from a one-stop shop, covering discrimination on any grounds: age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression and identity.

Public funding and government contracts must be conditional on compliance, with regular audits by the Commission. Audit recommendations must be legally enforceable.

Government departments, city councils, aged care providers, school boards, sporting bodies, hospital s, even the companies contracted to clean council offices, will have to enforce proper diversity training, policies and procedures.

IMMIGRATION

Under current policy, gay asylum seekers are sent back to countries with homophobic regimes, even the death penalty, and told to hide their sexuality. That must stop.

Even the leader of British Conservatives has said this is wrong, that they should be allowed to stay if they would be in danger at home.

Neo-fascists accused him of pledging “to flood Britain with homosexual African “asylum seekers” . . . . . ten times more likely to have AIDS than the heterosexual African population.” He took no notice. Can we please have similarly principled action from an Australian politican?

Of course, there’s more – but that’ll do for a start. What’s on your wishlist, and why?

P.S. A list of Senators who voted against equal marriage is here: Really Long Link

[Doug presents ‘Freshly Doug’ on Joy 94.9 every Thursday 9am-12noon – and he’s now also a ‘Grumpy Old Pouf’ on Joy alternate Tuesdays 9pm – listen online http://www.joy.org.au/listenlive]

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Face Down the God Squad & Win Votes!

December 20th 2009 02:08
Preacher
What do you mean, I'm a fraud?


Labor supporters continue to propagate the myth that the party can’t embrace marriage equality because they would lose the Christian vote and hence their grip on power. GLBTI advocates have long held that this was hogwash, and now we have the proof.

Associate Professor Dr Rodney Smith of Sydney University has analysed voting at the 2007 elections, and his findings strongly indicate the opposite..

According to The Age Really Long Link he said, ''The events of the 2007 federal election are impossible to square with the view that Australian electoral politics are coming increasingly under the influence of right-wing Christian groups.''

The good doctor found that instead, that in seats where right-wing Christian groups directly targeted Labor and the Greens, the two parties actually increased their vote.

The study also explodes the myth that there is any such thing as a unified Christian point of view.

Again according to The Age, Dr Smith says “ it is misleading to lump all Christian groups under the label ‘Christian right’ “… His analysis … shows the contributions of church groups to the election were not dominated by a single view, but covered diverse issues with competing views on key policy issues. “ Among those ‘competing views’ are many Christians who support marriage equality.

In other words, the “Christian” community is no more united than the GLBTI community .The Australian Christian Lobby is only one voice among many, representing only a minority of its co-religionists.

Yet successive governments – including the current administration - have prostituted themselves for votes the Lobby cannot in fact deliver, and used Lobby demands as an excuse to dilute and delay GLBTI equality- and as a smokescreen for their own homophobia.

At the same time those same governments have refused to act on the advice of disparate gay groups on the grounds that each was only one voice among many, and the gay community was “not dominated by a single view, but covered diverse issues with competing views on key policy issues. “

No, Labor’s refusal to embrace marriage equality is not based on the fear of the consequences at the ballot box – they will be minimal, and could even be positive. It is based on the fear of confronting the homophobia within itself, and of opening up a split within the party. The ghost of Bob Santamaria is stalking the corridors of power.

As one source put it (I’m paraphrasing), ‘it’s not about principles, it’s about finding a compromise everyone within the party can live with.’

It suits Labor to aim us at Jim Wallace and the Australian Christian Lobby, because that diverts our attention from the real roadblock to marriage equality – the Labor Party itself, and in particular the malign influence of the Catholic right, propped up by votes of the Shoppies Union led by North-Korean-style President for Life, the dinner companion of Cardinals, Joe de Bruyn.

This conveniently allows Labor pollies who don’t much like us, but need our votes to hold onto their Green-challenged inner-city seats, to pose as friends whose hands are unfortunately tied by electoral necessity – and, they remind us, with gentle threats, the Liberals would be worse.

That may once have been true, but now the Liberal Party is frantically narrowing its appeal, energising it’s very conservative base (unconsciously aping its American mentors, the Republicans) and gifting the centre ground to Labor.

Labor now not only has room to shift to the left, it will be forced to do so to avoid losing many valuable inner city members, principally to the Greens. And not just – or even principally – because of their intransigence on marriage equality.

Inner city Labor voters - especially the under 35s - are baffled by Canberra’s recalcitrance on same sex equality. But they are also vehemently opposed to the proposed government censorship of the internet. And they are furious at weak and ineffective climate change policies that turn the notion of ‘the polluter pays’ on its head, creating instead a policy of ‘taxpayers pay polluters.’

On the one hand, Mr Rudd wants to paint Labor as the party of the future, of change, of technological advance. But siding with crusty old ‘Christian’ colonels makes his banner of progress and modernity seem nothing more than a flag of convenience.

But when these zealots attack Labor instead of embracing it, the Labor vote goes up. Because that seems to validate Labors progressive credentials.

Facing down the God Squad is, in short, a vote-winning strategy. If only Rudd can find the will and the courage to face down those in his own party who are holding him back.
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UK Gay Lord Slams Victoria

October 4th 2009 19:52
Rob Hulls
Rob Hulls


I wouldn't ordinarily post something here I didn't write myself, but I could not possibly put this Really Long Link any better.

Doug

The Chair
Lord R McDowall
LGBT Network
PO Box 4107
Glasgow
G53 9AP

5th October, 2009

To the Premier and the Attorney General of the State of Victoria in the Commonwealth of Australia

Dear Premier Brumby and Attorney General Rob Hulls,

I write to you a letter which I have previously written to representatives of the Egyptian Government, the Libyan Government, the Burundian Government, the Syrian Government, and the Government of Belarus; among other non-democratic, authoritarian states; to express my serious concern about a proposed or ratified law that adversely discriminates or affects Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender citizens.

I never considered that I would have to write this letter to the head of a democratically elected government in a Western nation.

I have no further need to express to you the seriousness of this nature, of which you are most undoubtedly aware. Your Attorney-General, Rob Hulls, proposed last week a ‘compromise’ on discrimination law, to allow schools, hospitals and other welfare services to refuse to employ or provide services to gay people, to single mothers or people of other faiths, whilst it will be illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, disability, age, physical features, political beliefs or activity.

To allow faith groups that run services for the wider community to refuse to employ staff that they believe undermine their beliefs purely because they are unmarried or are a lesbian, or to allow those faith based groups to refuse any of their services to a gay pupil, or a patient of another faith is a completely at odds with the principles of not only a modern, cosmopolitan society, but of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Fairness, respect, a fair go. These proposals are incompatible with the values that each Australian closely holds, and that your Government has a duty to protect.

What makes a newly qualified, teacher with less experience but is heterosexual better than a teacher with decades of teaching knowledge and multiple advanced qualifications but is gay?

Why is a nurse who barely passed professional exams, has been complained against because of poor standards of care or hygiene but professes to be a Christian, better than a nurse who was top of the class and goes the extra mile to make those in care comfortable, safe and healthy, but is a Buddhist?

Why is it right or fair in a democratic, modern society, and in an urban, cosmopolitan state such as Victoria, that ecclesiastic religious scholars should decide who is best to deliver the services they have decided to offer, rather than the mangers who run those services?

In what way does it ensure the best possible standard of care or of teaching when hospitals or schools can be prevented by the clerics who oversee them from hiring best candidate for the job?

Why does whether someone has decided to marry their partner or not make the slightest bit of difference in how they can carry out a job that they have the experience, skills, and qualifications to deliver?

No doctor would say that there are better at their job because of their sexuality, religion or marital status, no teacher would claim that either, because these characteristics, like race, age and gender, have no bearing on job performance.

The proposals to allow religious run schools, hospitals or welfare organisations to refuse to provide services to gay people, or those of a different faith or marital status, is not just discriminatory, it is divisive.

Do you want Victoria to be a place where young people can be excluded from school because of their sexuality? Where someone can be refused entry to a hospital and left to die on the street outside because they are of a different faith? Because they don’t have a wedding ring on their finger?

In the United Kingdom, a single equality act was brought in which ‘outlawed discrimination in the provision of goods and services’.

The principles behind these measures are straightforward. It can’t be right in a decent, tolerant society that a shopkeeper or restaurant can refuse to serve a customer because of his or her sexual orientation. It cannot be right for a school to discriminate against a child because of their parents’ sexuality or not to take homophobic bullying as seriously as they should…

The Regulations make such discrimination illegal. We want to ensure that when people visit their hospital, study at school or college, or even do something as everyday as shopping or booking a holiday, they get treated fairly and with respect, no matter what their sexual orientation.

The Secretary of State who brought in these changes was Ruth Kelly, a staunch Catholic. She recognised that her beliefs were her own. She was more that entitled to them, indeed they were her right. However the right to her beliefs did not extend to denying rights to other people. That is the essence of human rights; that is the balance of justice in a democratic society. Creating a society of fairness and respect is vital to the progress and prosperity of a 21st century society. This law you are proposing will do the opposite.

To allow discrimination based on some parts of the human condition but not others is to wilfully and criminally neglect the duty of the state to care for all its citizens without prejudice or favour. This does not provide a balance between the rights of religious groups and of the general population, this will foster intolerance, breed hate and create a Victoria that is dislocated and fractured, where citizens are subjected to unequal treatment for no other reason than some people do not like who they are. It creates unnatural hierarchies in society, where none existed before. A gay person living in Melbourne will see their Asian or black friends protected from the racist sentiments of others, but they will not be allowed protections against those same people who do not subscribe to the values of fairness that marks Australia out.

It will drive religious communities deeper into themselves. Rather than encouraging Muslims and Christians to work together, live and access services together and to recognise and celebrate the things that unite them, it only serves to divide communities and for groups to see suspicion, fear and intolerance against others where there was none before.

All people are either treated equally or they are not, there is no middle way, no compromise when it comes to equal treatment of people in law.

A state, a party and a premier who allows such intolerance to embed itself in society may win a bare majority of voters who also hold such prejudices. Yet history will judge you not on how many elections you won but on the legacy you left to the people of Victoria.

This law will ensure that many, unequal, dis-unified Victoria’s will emerge. Cosmopolitan Melbourne will be left as a rump of only like minded individuals, while those who are refused education, services or medical treatment will be forced from their homes to seek out places where they are seen on the merits of their humanity, not judged on the prejudices that others hold.

The Victorian Government has already recognised these principles of fairness and equality and enshrined it in law. The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities states it clearly;

People have the right to recognition before the law.

People have the right to enjoy their human rights without discrimination.

People have the right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law without discrimination.

This type of law, this sort of compromise you propose seriously violates the protections that were written into law only a few years ago. To remove a gay pupil from school, to deny an unmarried doctor a job, to ban a Hindu from teaching, is the exact opposite of equality before the law and equal protection of the law.

It is the exact opposite of the bedrock of Australian values and principles. It is incompatible with the guiding principle of the Commonwealth of Australia, the right of a fair go, for everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

“At the heart of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities is respect: the belief that everyone is entitled, as we say, to ‘a fair go’. It’s part of our national character. It’s behind our willingness to help in times of disaster or distress. Yet the notion of ‘a fair go’ can be ignored, eroded, or corrupted and rights we take for granted diminished or removed.”

The Attorney General Rob Hulls was right when he signed his name to the Charter, and that must be remembered. He and the Government of Victoria must respect its citizens, and most of all, respect their right to a fair go, at employment, at services, at life. To allow anything else, like this law proposes, is unfair, unequal, and Un-Australian.

Yours

Lord R McDowall GNB (CNLE) IMC MEA

Chair of the LGBT Network

lordmcdowall@lgbtnetwork.eu

44 (0) 871 2456 100
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Butchered to make a Roman Holiday

September 28th 2009 00:44
Priest and boy
Trust me, I'm a priest . .


Bizarre things happen in the lead-up to an election. Like Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls deciding to pre-empt the parliamentary review into anti-discrimination law


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A Whole of Government Initiative

August 23rd 2009 07:32
Social Inclusion Board
The Social Inclusion Board

The Rudd government is big on ‘Social Inclusion’. There’s a Minister (Julia Gillard), a Parliamentary Secretary (Ursula Stephens), a Board, a Task Force, and a Social Inclusion Unit in almost every ministry. It’s a ‘whole of government’ priority.

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You Can't Always Get What You Want

August 16th 2009 06:10
nby Imperial Blue
Denby Imperial Blue


Mum and Dad had come on a visit, and we’d had a pleasant Sunday lunch. But mother was clearly working up to something


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We're so grateful - not!

August 4th 2009 04:10
Justice


I finally got my hands on some transcripts of ALP conference speeches, so I can dispense with the sleeping pills for a while


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The 3 Most Important things you can do for Marriage - UPDATE

July 29th 2009 02:08
Equal Love


First , tell the Senate you support marriage equality


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Nationwide Equal Marriage Rallies

July 7th 2009 18:56
marriage equality


Demand Same Sex Marriage Equality August 1st


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The tipping point

July 5th 2009 21:08
old stuff collapsing


Across Australia it feels as if a tipping point is coming – a moment when immovable barriers, which have seemed so solid for so long, topple like skycrapers in an earthquake


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Talking 'bout my generation

June 27th 2009 08:53
Mind the gap



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The mob at the back of the bus

May 31st 2009 04:11
St Trinians by Ronald Searle
St Trinians - Ronald Searle


Listening to ‘our spokespeople’ arguing about marriage versus registers versus unions is like being a teacher with a busload of bitchy schoolgirls


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Don’t ram it down my throat

May 9th 2009 00:46
Forced feeding
Vincent Price (L) & Diana Rigg give Robert Morely his supper in "Theatre of Blood"


Joe the Plumber, Jeff Kennet and Kevin Rudd all mask prejudice with faux-tolerance.
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Rainbow Report on Homophobia

April 30th 2009 00:40
Homophobia
Graphic: BBC

This week Thu Apl 30 7-8pm AEST Joy 94.9 Melbourne, streaming live at www.joy.org.au The Rainbow Report looks at Homophobia.

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