GALE Convenor Rod Swift takes a look at the major form of the political parties on GLBTIQ issues.
It only happens every three years, but take note – a Federal election is imminent and if history is any guide, then the election date is tipped to be any time between 27 October and 8 December.
Over the past three years, the Federal Government has failed to move forward on a number of basic and simple reforms to provide fairness for GLBTI people and their families under national law.
There has been limited progress for same-sex couples and their families when a person is a serviceperson in the Australian Defence Forces. Equal access to benefits has been granted to those defence personnel, but the reforms in that area have been progressed because the policy is under the control of the Australian Defence Force, rather than the Federal Government.
On the other hand, the Howard Cabinet asked the Governor-General to dump the ACT’s civil partnerships laws. The Howard Government has also failed to listen to both Liberal backbenchers and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and has not passed comprehensive law reforms to include same-sex couples and their families in federal law.
On the eve of the election, Prime Minister John Howard has now ruled out equality for same-sex couples, despite his constant claims for a number of years that he doesn’t support discrimination against same-sex couples.
So, who deserves your vote?
There will be candidates and pundits from all parties vying for your vote in the coming Federal election, debating their record or policy on issues as wide as the economy, the environment, workplace relations, health, education, and issues like foreign affairs and the war in Iraq.
In 2004, GALE released a voter guide for the Federal election to assist in informing voters about each party’s policies towards GLBTI people. This guide were considered a significant document worthy of archiving in the National Library of Australia’s PANDORA project. GALE will be releasing another guide for the 2007 election, which will be available on the website at www.galewa.asn.au shortly.
Who deserves your vote? GALE has prepared a quick summary of the positions of each party to help voters understand the positions of the major parties.
LIBERAL/NATIONAL COALITION
The current Coalition Government has led for the three years since the last election and has presided over the opportunity to move law reforms ahead. A year into the Howard Government’s most recent term a number of backbench MPs proposed that it was time for law reforms. This group of MPs was led by Queensland MP Warren Entsch and includes WA Liberal MPs Judi Moylan (in the seat of Pearce) and Dr Mal Washer (in the seat of Moore).
Despite this push, the Howard Government has failed to address the issue, with PM John Howard in September saying that no legislative reforms were on the agenda. This is despite the HREOC report identifying discrimination in 58 federal laws.
The current Coalition Government is also the government that inserted a heterosexual-only clause into the federal Marriage Act. The Coalition Government’s legislative agenda also includes a proposed ban on same-sex couples from adopting children from overseas countries.
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
The ALP has been on the Opposition benches for the past eleven years. In prior parliament terms, the ALP has quietly supported reforms for GLBTI people, but during this three year term has become more strident in support for law reform.
Both the former and current Shadow Attorneys-General, Nicola Roxon and Senator Joe Ludwig, have spoken out clearly in support of ending discrimination against same-sex couples and their family. This has occurred more frequently and openly since the HREOC report was released earlier this year. Similarly, ALP state governments have been part of passing the landmark law reforms for same-sex couples including those in WA in 2001 and 2002.
On the other hand, the ALP also supported the Howard Government’s ban on marriage in 2004 and maintains the position ‘that marriage is between a man and a woman’.
The ALP has a number of elected candidates who are openly GLBTI, and has preselected current MP Louise Pratt (from the state North Metropolitan seat) to be a WA candidate for the Senate.
AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS
The Australian Democrats have supported GLBTI rights as part of its party platform for the past three decades. In past periods where either Labor or Liberal have governed, the Australian Democrats have used their numbers in the Senate to attempt to amend legislation to remove discrimination.
For example, the changes to private sector superannuation so that same-sex couples are treated equally was achieved by the Australian Democrats who refused to allow the Howard Government to pass its superannuation choice legislation without such fairness for GLBTI people.
The position of the Australian Democrats and other minor parties has been significantly weakened due to the Howard Government gaining a majority of seats in the Senate.
Despite this, the Australian Democrats led a cross-party inquiry in September into discrimination in federal law, in response to the HREOC report. The party also opposed the 2004 marriage ban and has four bills before the Senate which seek to fix discrimination in federal law and allow same-sex marriages.
The Australian Democrats have a history of candidates who are openly GLBTI, including former WA Senator Brian Greig.
AUSTRALIAN GREENS
The Australian Greens have also supported GLBTI rights as part of their party platform since their inception. The Greens have often spoken out stridently in support of GLBTI rights.
Indeed, current Senator Rachel Siewert has spoken out on numerous occasions in relation to the gross discrimination faced by same-sex couples. The Greens introduced a private member’s bill into the House of Representatives during the previous term of parliament supporting same-sex marriages.
Like the Australian Democrats, the Greens have opposed attempts by the Howard Government to introduce discrimination into Australian law, including the same-sex marriage ban of 2004.
Their current leader, Senator Bob Brown, is an openly gay man and the party has a history of candidates who are openly GLBTI.
OTHER PARTIES
There will be a number of independent and ungrouped candidates and other so-called ‘microparties’ that will stand. These groups include a number of conservative parties that oppose rights for GLBTI couples including Family First, One Nation, and the Christian Democratic Party.
Each of these three parties has vociferously spoke out against giving same-sex couples equality. Some have even proposed to remove the miniscule rights that GLBTI people already have in Australia.
