Doug PollardVictorian Greens GLBTI policies
On Freshly Doug Joy 94.9 11/11/2010 Doug caught up with Victorian Greens candidate and GLBTI policy spokesperson Sue Pennicuik and attempted to get a pcture of what Green GLBTI policy might be.
DOUG: There’s an election happening as you may have noticed and we were talking with an Independent candidate earlier on. In the past also, we heard a great deal from the Labor Party about what their plans are for the GLBTI community and the bucket of money they want to throw in our direction. We don’t know what the Liberal’s plans are. They were supposed to be here to talk with us about them today but they didn’t turn up so instead, we are going to be talking with Sue Pennicuik who is the Greens’ spokesperson on all these issues and of course, already a Greens member of parliament. She joins us on the line, now – good morning Sue.
SUE: Good morning Doug.
DOUG: Okay – now, we had John Brumby come out with what sounded at least on the surface, like a very pro-gay package of measures so why should someone vote for you over him if they’re now beginning to get with the gay program?
SUE: Well, I think our policies are better than Labor’s policies and I think they (Labor), have some issues they still need to resolve like the issue of gay marriage for example.
DOUG: Let’s take a look at some of the policies you have. One issue of course, which is a major thing with the gay community is religious exemptions to the anti-discrimination legislation.
SUE: That’s right. The Equal Opportunity Act was reviewed and re-written, basically, last year – or earlier this year. As you know and the – it was still left in there that religious organisations and religious schools – or faith-based schools, could still discriminate on a range of attributes including gender identity, sexual activity – I don’t know how that could even be ascertained - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
SUE: I don’t know - - -
DOUG: - - - wear a monitoring bracelet or something?
SUE: There’s also parental status and marital status. The government defend it by saying it has to be an inherent requirement of the job – but I can’t see how any of those things could be an inherent requirement of the job and I really can’t see how an employer – how it could be in any way appropriate for an employer to ask those questions.
DOUG: Yeah, I heard a story recently from a friend of mine, here, who said his brother had been fired from a job with a Christian organisation for having a number plate on his car with the word “gay” in it. Which - - -
SUE: Well, I - - -
DOUG: - - - strikes me as very bizarre.
SUE: Hopefully he’s taken that to the Commission because I think if these sorts of things are happening people should take it to the Commission so that they know – they’re getting the facts these things are happening - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
SUE: - - - but I mean you could make a small argument, that religious belief might be required by a person who is going to teach religious – that particular religious - - -
DOUG: Sure - - -
SUE: All the rest of it, I don’t think a case can be made.
DOUG: - - - no. I personally don’t think it really matters that they’re teaching mathematics what their religion is - - -
SUE: No.
DOUG: It doesn’t seem to me to be - - -
SUE: Or what their marital status or parental status is.
DOUG: - - - no. The important point is equality-as-a-teacher - - -
SUE: Yes, you’re right.
DOUG: You also said the Greens would legislate for same-sex marriage in Victoria. We’re going to be talking with Rodney Croome from Tasmania, a little - - -
SUE: Yes.
DOUG: - - - later on about this issue. Because, apparently the Greens down there are bringing in a Bill to do this - - -
SUE: Yes.
DOUG: But do you think that has a chance of getting up, do you think that would stand-up to a challenge if you got one through?
SUE: It’s an interesting area – m’mm, because what’s happened is we already have our same-sex marriage Bill – or Equality in Marriage Bill – in the federal Senate - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
SUE: - - that Sarah Hanson-Young introduced in the last parliament and is re-introducing and also, that would be re-introduced in the lower house, now. But in the meantime we’ve had the advice from Professor George Williams that because the Marriage Act was changed by the Howard government to specifically mention that it’s a marriage between a man-and-a-woman that in his opinion leaves open for States to legislate for same-sex marriage.
DOUG: It’ll be interesting to see how that one plays out.
SUE: Now, obviously if the national change was made it would better to do it that way but it’s interesting if that doesn’t occur well we can move at state level.
DOUG: Another issue is – this is a state issue, especially – adoption - - -
SUE: Yes.
DOUG: - - - the state government – the Labor government, has promised to review the Adoption Act but I think that’s as far is it goes?
SUE: Yeah. I would’ve preferred the verb: amend.
DOUG: M’mm – and you would push for amendment - - -
SUE: Well, I moved an amendment when we were debating – I think it was, I can’t remember which Bill it was, now, just off-the-top-of-my-head – sorry. But I moved an amendment then – sorry, no. I didn’t move an amendment, I beg your pardon – I just raised the issue in the context of the assisted reproductive [indistinct] Bill that we passed in 2008. That this needed to be amended as well.
DOUG: Yeah – we were talking about the various Greens policies for the GLBTI community – now amongst the things John Brumby has promised is quite a fair whack of funding for a number of GLBTI initiatives to fund a GLBTI community body of some sort. We don’t know which one; to set-up a ministerial advisory committee and also to put a certain amount of money in to GLBTI mental health in a couple of places – what’s your response to all that?
SUE: Well, they’re all positive moves. There’s not a lot of detail, all I know is what’s in the press release; there’s 400,000 is it - - -
DOUG: For a peak body.
SUE: - - - yes, for the peak body to advise cabinet which is a great idea because obviously, there’s still a long way to go to deal with the issues in the community – in the wider community. But having this advisory body to advise cabinet on what needs to be done is a good thing. So I’m supportive of that – as I say, I don’t know any detail about it, though.
DOUG: You’ve in your policy statement you say you’re in favour of establishing: “formal, permanent and adequately resourced liaison groups”.
SUE: Yeah.
DOUG: M’mm – between the - - -
SUE: But this doesn’t look permanent, though. It’s 4-years so - - -
DOUG: - - - yeah. I was a bit puzzled by that.
SUE: M’mm.
DOUG: One of the things that plague this whole issue, when we get money for the gay community for a health issue or for whatever else it always seems to be either a pilot project or it’s time-limited funding.
SUE: Yep. Yeah – which is exactly why we have put the word: “permanent” in there – in our policy - - -
DOUG: Right – so, you would establish - - -
SUE: I can welcome them doing something.
DOUG: - - - of course.
SUE: I can’t understand why it would only be for 4-years which is obviously the next term.
DOUG: Yes. Well, there is - - -
SUE: [indistinct] need for something more permanent.
DOUG: There’re two bodies we’re talking about here; one, is a ministerial advisory committee and the other is a community organisation - - -
SUE: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - which they would fund for 4-years so there’re two different things there, I think. I’m not sure whether their ministerial advisory committee is designed to be just 4-years or permanent. I’m not too clear on that from their policy documents and unfortunately Mr. Brumby hasn’t responded to my invitation to come and talk with me about it.
SUE: Look, I’m no clearer on that than you, Doug. I don’t feel I can comment any further. I’m not sure.
DOUG: I don’t feel awfully safe about it I must say – now, you’ve also said where-ever possible removing “gender” from government forms and documents. Why is this important?
SUE: I think it’s important in terms of women as well, there’re a lot of documents written in fact, there’re a lot of parliamentary documents I’ve discovered - - -
DOUG: M’mm?
SUE: - - - since I’ve been in parliament that are written in the ‘male’ so everyone’s a male - - -
DOUG: Right.
SUE: Even there we have to catch-up so I think the idea there is to not be gender specific, as much as possible. So it’s inclusive of everybody.
DOUG: Really when you come down to it why does the government need to know what your gender is anyway, on a lot of these forms - - -
SUE: That’s right.
DOUG: - - - and things?
SUE: That’s exactly right. Why is it pre-supposed you are one or the other?
DOUG: That’s a good point.
[laughs]
DOUG: Being a man of course I don’t tend to notice these things very much.
SUE: Well, yeah. I used to have that discussion with my father - - -
DOUG: Yeah?
SUE: He used to say – if you go back 30-years, I had the discussions with my dad, you know – 20 or 30-years – he’d say ‘it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter ‘cause you didn’t notice it’ because it’s directed at you - - -
DOUG: Yeah.
SUE: - - - not directed at me.
DOUG: It’s a bit like racism isn’t it - - -
SUE: M’mm.
DOUG: Unless you’re on the receiving end of it you don’t notice it – you know, being a white male one is in rather a privileged position but ever since I’ve had an Asian partner which is going on for 18-years now I’ve been very well made aware of a lot of things I was totally unaware of before - - -
SUE: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - it doesn’t half shake your complacency. Anything else you’d like to say to the gay and lesbian community, why they should vote for you and the Greens?
SUE: Personally, they could check out what I have been doing since – well, even before I was in parliament – in the 4-years in parliament. To amend the laws at any chance I could get. In terms for example, the relationship register I’ve noticed the government has said that they will allow partners to be legally registered even if only one partner is connected to Victoria; I moved an amendment to the Relationship Bill to that effect and the government voted against it and that was two to 3-years ago so, that could already be in place if they hadn’t voted against it. I don’t know why they did because it was such a simple thing to do - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
SUE: - - - also – m’mm, I wanted to make sure there could be a ceremony attached to a register(sic) of a relationship and the government wouldn’t agree to that. Those small things – but the other things I’m interested in are you were talking before about mental health?
DOUG: Yeah.
SUE: I met Patrick McGorry a couple of weeks ago and had a chat with him, I saw him on the T.V. last night talking about how only about a third of people who have mental health issues get any help whereas if you have a physical injury pretty well, you will get help. It’s up around the 100 per cent and we know the issues with mental health amongst GLBTI people particularly young people – so, that’s an issue I’m very, very interested in and would like to get more involved in. In the next few years - - -
DOUG: The best of luck with it. We’ve just had a message in by the way, from the Liberal Party – well actually, Tom McFeeley, who is standing for the Liberals.
SUE: Yes.
DOUG: He’s the landlord of the Peel - - -
SUE: That’s right.
DOUG: - - - and he’s a gay man. He points out he’s got several interviews arranged on Joy so we will be hearing the Liberal point-of-view – interview - - -
SUE: Yes.
DOUG: - - - in fact, he’s going to be on: “Sat Mag”(sic) and I’m going to be talking to him, myself, this weekend. But we don’t have anyone from the Liberals here, today. Sue, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
SUE: You’re welcome Doug, anytime. Thank you.
DOUG: That was Sue Pennicuik from the Greens.
