The Labor opposition has appointed Louise Pratt in an Equality portfolio, and she has taken aim at the new prime minster Scott Morrison over his record of opposition to Australian LGBT people.
Particularly in last year's horrendous postal survey on our human rights in which he actively campaigned for the No vote against David and I marrying, and was one of those who joined Tony Abbott in walking out of the chamber in a fit of anger at every one of their amendments to the marriage equality legislation being voted down. Thus abstaining from the final vote and going against the clear will of the Australian people.
After Australians going through the process of the whole postal survey, participating in numbers surprisingly high and coming up with a resounding Yes vote, Morrison still was against us right to the last. So much so that he boycotted the final vote, I guess he just didn't want to be a part of the vote that would give us equality.
Now that Morrison is in power, we're back to the Abbott prime minister-ship of being deeply against LGBT people. The results of the inquiry into religious freedom were in three months ago, but still haven't been released to the public yet. Why? Are the recommendations in the biased group who put it together (there was no LGBT representation on the board) so against Australian opinion that they want to keep it under wraps? Will Morrison, if against all odds, was elected in the coming federal election as prime minister, would he reveal the contents of the report and act accordingly?
We do have very great reason to be concerned about this prime minister. Particularly as the Australian Christian Lobby wasted no time to endorse him as our new PM.
 |
| Abbott walks out of chamber abstaining from final vote - Morrison joined him |
Labor’s newly appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Equality, WA Senator Louise Pratt, says she has concerns over new Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s record on LGBTI equality.
Pratt, who takes over the portfolio established by Queensland MP Terri Butler, says many have reached out to her following Morrison’s ascension to the top job.
“I share their concerns,” Pratt said in a statement.
“He defended and praised Israel Folau when he said that gay people were going to hell, saying he had ‘shown a lot of strength of character’.
“Scott Morrison was a vocal opponent of Marriage Equality. He supported the divisive postal survey as a way of obstructing our path to marriage equality.
“He then campaigned actively for the No case and voted “No” during the postal survey,” Pratt said.
“To add insult to injury he supported amendments to the Bill to allow for discrimination against LGBTI people within the Marriage Act.
“He then went on to abstain from the vote – ignoring the will of the Australian people and indeed, the will of the people within his own electorate.”
Pratt noted that Morrison was one of just a handful of MPs who abstained from voting on the marriage equality legislation, which was introduced by Dutton backer and WA Senator Dean Smith.
“He was joined by eight other MPs including Andrew Hastie, Tony Abbott, and Kevin Andrews.
“This is the same group of conservative MPs behind the push to replace Malcolm Turnbull in the top job.
“The LGBTI community should hold concerns about the influence these and other hard right Liberal and National MPs hold inside the Morrison Government,” she said.
”The LGBTI community can never be complacent. While we have achieved Marriage Equality, the growing conservative control in the Liberal Party means we could see the reversal of the rights we have fought so long and hard for quickly taken away,” Pratt’s statement concluded. Star Observer
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment