Burnie City Council in Tasmania has overwhelming supported LGBTIQA+ inclusion and equality. The port city Burnie is the fourth largest city in Tasmania and located on the island’s northwest coast.
At a council meeting earlier this week, the council voted 8 to 1 to convene an LGBTIQA+ advisory group and develop an LGBTIQA+ action group.
The motion, tabled by Deputy Mayor Giovanna Simpson, prompted passionate support from several councilors and applause from LGBTIQA+ people in the public gallery when it passed.
Cr Simpson said she was thrilled that they got great support for the initiative.
“I am beyond thrilled with the outcome. Having the motion carried by all councillors apart from Cr Aitken was so rewarding. We were strong in our passion, and we won.”
“Having the support of the LGBTIQA+ community in the gallery was so powerful and when I watched as the rainbow colours walked through the Council Chamber doors, I felt so much love and warmth and knew that with their support, we could make a change.”
“This is a step forward for the community and I hope it heals some of the hurt that has been caused.”
Equality Tasmania spokesperson, Rodney Croome, has welcomed the move.
“As someone who protested outside anti-gay rallies in Burnie 30 years ago, I was overjoyed to be in the Burnie Council Chamber when the Council voted to support an LGBTIQA+ advisory group and action plan.”
““Thanks to Deputy Mayor Giovanna Simpson for putting the motion, to all those councillors who spoke in favour of it and to those local LGBTIQA+ people, family members and allies who came to support.”
“Now the hard work begins to consult with the city’s LGBTIQA+ community, their families and service providers, and come up with a plan that will make a real difference to people’s lives.”
In the Council’s briefing notes on the motion, General Manager, Shane Crawford, expressed concern there is no allocated budget for the action plan.
An amendment to the motion from Cr Simpson delayed expenditure on the plan to the next financial year.
The single vote against the motion came from Cr Trent Aitken who had an alternative motion calling for an electors’ poll.
Croome said councillors are elected to make these decisions, not outsource them to ratepayers.
“We had a national poll on LGBTIQA+ equality in 2017 and a majority of Northwest Coasters voted in favour”. he said.
Councillor Aitken has been criticised by local residents over his social media comments about people who are transgender.
Since December 2024 over 100 complaints have been filed against the councilor according to The Herald Sun. He made headlines earlier this year with comments he made online about Queer Eye cast member Jonathan Van Ness.
During the debate this week he said he was concerned that supporting an inclusion plan for LGBTIQA+ people would lead to the Australian flag being replaced by the Pride flag on council buildings.
The council also took on-notice questions from Councilor Aitken who asked if the council’s staff have received any complaints about transgender women using bathrooms or other spaces.
On his social media pages, the councilor said he wasn’t an expert about gender dysphoria, but had done his own research and decided it was “just a phase of life” that didn’t need a medical response. He argues that because he never knew any people who were transgender when he was young, they didn’t exist. He also claims people are identifying as cats.
