Colin Barnett at odds with facts on gay law rollback threat
Written by Gavin McGuren
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Newly elected Opposition Leader Colin Barnett has denied he promised to roll back key aspects of the Gallop Government's gay and lesbian law reforms during his unsuccessful campaign to become Premier in 2005, and claims he will not do so if elected this time.
A spokesman for Mr Barnett told GAYinWA a Liberal Government would not rollback the gay and lesbian law reforms enacted in 2002.
But WA's GLBT lobby group says Mr Barnett's memory is failing him and that his Family First position paper from the last election promised to repeal key planks of the reforms, including the equal age of consent, access to IVF, adoption rights and access to the Family Court.
In the lead up to the 2005 State election, Mr Barnett was widely reported as committing the Liberal Party to removing newly won adoption rights and IVF access for lesbian women, as well as raising the age of consent for gay and lesbian people from 16 to 18.
His views appeared to be laid out in an article by Steve Pennells that appeared on the front page of the West Australian on 7 December 2004.
"I recognise about five per cent of the population is gay. They are probably born gay and I don't support discrimination on the grounds of age, religion, sexuality, whatever," Mr Barnett told The West Australian.
"What I don't agree with is when activists try and undermine the institutions of society in the name of equality.
"I do not support gay couples having adoption rights. I don't doubt the ability of gay couples to be very caring, but parenthood is essentially a man and a woman.
"I also happen to believe that the age of consent for homosexual relationships is 18."
But a spokesman for Mr Barnett said this week there was never any plan to undo the 2002 reforms.
"At that time there was never going to be a roll-back of gay law reforms. That was a misrepresentation of statements made by Colin," the spokesman said.
"There will be no roll back of gay law reform if Colin Barnett is elected as Premier."
Rod Swift, from Gay and Lesbian Equality WA (GALEWA) told GAYinWA he was astonished that Mr Barnett claimed he had been misrepresented.
"I can't see how he can say he was never going to roll back the reforms when it was included in his own party's platform and backed up by what he said in Parliament," Mr Swift said.
"It was clear before the last election that he wanted to roll back parts of law reform, including the age of consent, adoption and access to the Family Court.
"How can we now believe him when he says he won't roll back law reform? Unfortunately what Colin Barnett says now and what he might do in Government are two different things."
WA's reforms were passed by State Parliament in 2002 with the support of Labor and the Greens and were widely regarded as the most comprehensive gay and lesbian reform package in Australia.
The package included anti-discrimination laws, an equalisation of the age of consent, the granting of adoption rights and IVF access and allowing gay and lesbian couples access to the Family Court in the event of relationship breakdown.
A copy of a GALEWA 2005 election flyer can be downloaded here.
Comments (1)
Confused Colin! written by Sue Fisher Hendry, August 25, 2008 - 1:57:18 pm CDT
My, my..... how short is the memory of this particular poly!
Mr. Barnett has obviously forgotten what he got up to in his last failed attempt to lead the state.
As I recall, his public statement at the time was completely at odds with the proposed policies listed on his and his party's official website. He was busy insisting that he meant us no harm.... while his website's policy proposals clearly stated that he planned to withdraw IVF access, adoption rights and raise the age of consent.
I was Co-president of Pride with Daniel at the time and we worked alongside Rod Swift to campaign and make people aware of this.
I know this may be a ridiculous question .... as the man is a politician, but ask yourselves as you go to the polls......
Can this guy be trusted with L & G rights?
Lets just HOPE he and the rest of the crowd that pull his strings don't get in!!
Wish you all a Happy Pride
Sue Fisher Henry
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Lesbian Debate, Parade and Party, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's
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world with the opportunity for a new beginning and his country with the
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declare that something is "so gay" to indicate that it's dumb, silly,
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dull. That’s so gay. That’s so gay.
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The 2008 Pride Parade may have been among the smallest, and certainly
the fastest in Pride's 19 years, but it remains a relevant and
important event according to this year's convenor, Charles Denham.
Gay favourite Rachel Berger is among the headliners this year as the Wild West Comedy Fest returns
to Perth for 26 days of hilarity and hijinks. Other Australian comedy
stars on the bill include Bob Franklin, Tom Gleeson, Fiona O’Loughlin
and Scared Little Weird
Guys.
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according to festival convenor, Kieran Bycroft. While some events did
less well than expected, many attracted good crowds and some film and
theatre sessions were sold out.
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voters, voted yes to the ban. More 
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marriage. More 
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perfect night out. However amid the fifth round of drinks and
renditions of I Kissed a Girl, you can't help but feel a rift over the
dance floor.
From the Pride theatre and film seasons through to the Great Gay &
Lesbian Debate, Parade and Party, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's
Pride Festival. View footage from the debate and Parade and read about my festival highlights and the challenges I think Pride faces next year.
In winning today’s Presidential election, Barack Obama has provided the
world with the opportunity for a new beginning and his country with the
opportunity to put the disastrous Bush years behind it.
For some time now it's been popular among members of Generation Y to
declare that something is "so gay" to indicate that it's dumb, silly,
bad, ugly, unattractive, geeky, embarrassing, gaudy or even just plain
dull. That’s so gay. That’s so gay.
That’s so gay. It's the dull that hurts the most.
While I may not be the first person to go out on a limb and declare
that Barack Obama will win this year's Presidential election, I may be
among the first to declare that Sarah Palin will win the Republican
nomination and challenge him in 2012. That is, if she hasn't
bankrupted the Republicans with her wardrobe expenses first.
The global financial meltdown and impending economic Armageddon may
have an unexpected upside. For the first time in half a generation,
there may finally be a pool of people with the time on their
hands necessary to build exciting Parade floats.
written by Sue Fisher Hendry, August 25, 2008 - 1:57:18 pm CDT
My, my..... how short is the memory of this particular poly!
Mr. Barnett has obviously forgotten what he got up to in his last failed attempt to lead the state.
As I recall, his public statement at the time was completely at odds with the proposed policies listed on his and his party's official website. He was busy insisting that he meant us no harm.... while his website's policy proposals clearly stated that he planned to withdraw IVF access, adoption rights and raise the age of consent.
I was Co-president of Pride with Daniel at the time and we worked alongside Rod Swift to campaign and make people aware of this.
I know this may be a ridiculous question .... as the man is a politician, but ask yourselves as you go to the polls......
Can this guy be trusted with L & G rights?
Lets just HOPE he and the rest of the crowd that pull his strings don't get in!!
Wish you all a Happy Pride
Sue Fisher Henry