Doug PollardTurnbull the Pink Liberal
September 16th 2008 04:56
Pink In - Blue Out
Nelsons gone, Turnbulls in, and knives are already out for the new leader. But is this good or bad for the gay community?
Nelson was always pro-gay - he had a gay brother who died of AIDS - but owed his position to a hard right bunch with very rigid and uncaring pseudo-Christian positions on gay issues, forever spouting the old furphy about 'danger to marriage.'
Indeed, in an attempt to free himself from the influence of these pernicious illiberal infiltrators, Nelson went into the leadership election on a platform of ending the party's nitpicking and opportunistic opposition to same-sex couple equality with which he personally strongly disagreed..
His loss does not mean that gay issues have suffered a setback. In fact, quite the opposite. Turnbull sits for Wentworth, the gayest electorate in the country, taking in Sydney's gay ghetto and Mardi Gras route, including Oxford Street.
During the last election he let it be known that he had gone into bat for the gay community in Cabinet and secured a small concession in the matter of superannuation death benefits.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission published a report in last June finding same-sex couples were discriminated against in 58 areas of financial and work-related entitlements - a tally since upped to 100 by Attorney General Robert McClelland.
Turnbull was involved in helping draft proposals to implement the report's findings and wanted to steer them through the Howard cabinet. "It's Turnbull who's been pushing for the reforms since the [commission] report," a colleague told the Sydney Morning Herald. But a decision was left to John Howards casting vote, so the initiative died.
Lucy Turnbull is chairwoman of the AIDS Trust, and the Turnbulls have often raised money for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, which 'assists people directly disadvantaged by HIV and AIDS in NSW to maintain a reasonable quality of life through the provision of financial assistance.'
So the association with our community is more than just skin deep.
Turnbull also addressed the gay and lesbian business association during his campaign, pitching for the gay vote
In fact, Turnbull is a classic Liberal in the genuine old mould: laissez-faire in both economics and in social matters, preferring not to interfere in people's private lives, and certainly missing the strident lower middle class moralising that so disfigured John Howard's outlook on the issue.
Turnbull is also a man of strong opinions and formidable temper, who will not suffer fools gladly, especially those who try to shift him from his chosen course, unlike Nelson, who stood for little except what he thought would be popular with party and country.
Turnbull is unlikely to be swayed by the rigid theocrats who found Nelson so easy to corral, despite his personal convictions. Same-sex law reform, which had hit a standoff in the Senate, may have been saved by his removal.
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