I am - proudly - on the Left of my Party. Those with my views are often characterized, kindly, as ‘progressives’ or less kindly as ‘radicals’. Either term is used to marginalize us, to imply we are extreme, to suggest we are a minority. I have always found it ironic that the very views that lead to me being labelled like that are exactly those views which are shared by the majority of the Australian population, although not by the majority of the Australian Parliament. I support the end of discrimination in the Marriage Act - not because it affects me, although it does affect me - but because equal rights for all Australians has always been a touchstone for me, in all aspects of my political involvement. It will, I can assure you, remain one in the future. More than 65% of Australians agree with me. If this Parliament truly reflected the views of those who elect us, marriage equality would be a fact. I support the right of women to make their own reproductive choices, not have government make them for them and 80% of Australians agree with me. I have been equally opposed to laws that force women to bear children when they do not want to; and laws intended to prevent women from bearing children when they do wish to. Pro choice means the right to choose. I am profoundly grateful that I have been able to choose motherhood. I participated in amending laws intended to prevent women like me from accessing the same medical care as married women in WA back in 2001, Laws that were finally changed in 2010 in Victoria – finally giving me and all women, regardless of marital status, regardless of the gender of our partners or whether we have partners at all, access to the same legal rights as married women in Australia. Despite attempts to characterise views such as mine as ‘radical’, every piece of research demonstrates that they are shared by the majority of Australians. They are mainstream views and it is those who deny them who are extremists. It remains a great disappointment to me that my Party still contains a small rump of those extremists, who exercise a power far in excess of their number and most certainly far in excess of their support among our Party’s members and the members of our union partners. Parliament will be much worse for the absence of Louise Pratt. So, so much worse. The ALP will be far worse for her absence in the Senate. They are morons for putting that fossil, Joe Bullock, above her on the senate ticket.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:37:14 +0000