The Legislative Council of the Western Australian parliament has completed the second reading of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024.
The bill passed the second reading stage with 23 MPs voicing support and just six voting against the legislation. Those opposed to the bill included Liberals Peter Collier, Nick Goiran, Tjorn Sibma, Neil Thomson, Steve Thomas and independent Louise Kingston. Several vocal opponents of the legislation were not present in the house when the vote was taken.
The new legislation aims to remove the board and replace it with a new process that will make it easier for people to change their gender on official documents. When parliament meets next week, it is expected MPS will discuss the wide range of proposed amendments to the legislation before the bill has its third reading.
The third day of debate on the bill saw measured arguments being put forward surround the proposed legislative change.
The Nationals Martin Aldridge voiced his support for the legislation. Aldridge said he, like many MPs, had received a great deal of correspondence from people in the community opposed to the bill and surrounding issues about people who are transgender, but said many of the people reaching out to him were clearly misinformed.
The Greens Dr Brad Pettit said he was fully supportive of the legislation but would be putting forward a wide range of amendments that would meet the wishes of the Western Australian LGBTIQA+ communities who have asked for this change. Dr Pettit said he hoped the medical requirements could be completely stripped from the legislation.
Dr Brian Walker, who gave a fiery speech on the issue earlier in the week, also voiced support for the bill being passed, however he noted that the government’s approach now put more costs and effort on the applicants that previously required, while also saving the cost of running the soon to be defunct board.
Labor’s Peter Foster took opposition MPs to task over their lack of consultation with Western Australian LGBTIQA+ groups, and noted that the relevancy of many of the experts, groups and bodies cited in their arguments could be questioned.
