Liberal MP Andrew Laming is yet to speak during the parliamentary debate on the Religious Discrimination Bill, but used his time during Member’s Statements yesterday to share some of his views on the legislation.
Member’s Statements gives MPs just 90 seconds to comment on an issue that they believe is important, and usually related to their local electorate. Laming used his time to highlight that discrimination against LGBTIQA+ students is not limited to enrolment and expulsions, but is often in the area of bullying that forces students to leave.
Laming said he was “a career supporter of choice and faith based education and values” but has been shocked by the actions of Citipointe Christian College last week.
“Brian Mulheran’s notion of gender contracts is just revolting, and I’m glad that they were consigned to history.”
The Queensland MP said that while he was a supporter of the Religious Discrimination Bill his vote would be guided by experiences of a local family in his electorate.
“I will be guided in my vote by the experience of a family in my own electorate who today travels one hour across my city and back, twice a day, to find a school that will accept this child who was not accepted at a local school.
“The current provision that expulsion of these young children struggling with gender issues shall be prohibited is simply not enough, because these students are usually not expelled. Too often, they’re bullied out of schools by a range of other tactics that allows a school to say, ‘We never expelled them.'”
“It’s incredibly tragic. Let’s remember for a moment, in this great tension between parents seeking a faith based education, board members and schools maintaining what they believe they stand for, that schools are not necessarily a place of delivering faith, as much as a place delivering education for those students who are there for the right reasons.
“They deserve to complete their education without being forced out of schools in the absence of these protections.” Laming said.
Debate on the Religious Discrimination Bill is expected to continue in parliament today. Prime Minister Scott Morrison reportedly told a joint party room meeting of Liberal and National MPs that if they failed to get behind the bill they would face the prospect of losing the federal election.
Graeme Watson
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