Wednesday, 17 May 2023

Motions

Safe Schools

Debate resumed.

Vicki WARD (Eltham) (14:47): I will return to my debate. Before we stopped for lunch, I was talking about the amazing activities that were happening in my community this morning. It was just phenomenal to see how many amazing people came to Eltham Library and celebrated their diversity and celebrated love and respect. I really want to do a big shout-out to my librarians, who have done the most phenomenal job in my community. I want to thank those librarians for the work that they did during the pandemic, during lockdowns, when they were out delivering books personally to people’s homes and when they were checking in on vulnerable people. They knew they were vulnerable, because they spent time in the library. Now these incredibly kind, professional people have been targeted by people who are absolutely hideous. They have been threatened with violence by people coming into the library as well as people outside, people in emails, people on the phone and people of course online – because, as we know, there is no bigger coward than a keyboard warrior. I also want to thank Victoria Police for coming out to my community and having a really strong presence this morning, showing that this kind of dangerous, aggressive and bigoted behaviour is just not acceptable.

As with all of us, I go around to a number of our local schools, and as the Parliamentary Secretary for Education, I do spend time in a number of schools. I can tell you how heartbreaking it was to have a kid come up to me – a kid that I had met when they were in grade 6 – and speak to me about the loneliness of feeling like they were the only gay kid at the school. They felt clearly that they were an outlier and that they were an outsider. I know that it is so important with Safe Schools that kids are helped to feel included and that teachers are given the necessary skills and supports to help them support vulnerable kids in their school community, and for this kid to not feel that is just absolutely heartbreaking. I applaud my local schools, as I mentioned earlier, such as Eltham High, that do such fantastic work in supporting our kids and in giving tools to kids and to teachers to help them really give kids the support that they need.

I spoke about my pride in Eltham High School, and it is a phenomenal school. I also want to thank the Minister for Education for the tremendous work that she does, the absolute passion that she has for inclusion in our schools and the absolute commitment and passion that she has for equality in our schools and how strongly she is pushing this.

We have seen hate and division online surrounding drag story time at Eltham Library and a number of other sites across our state. Whether it has been raising the rainbow flag or having a trivia night at the local library, we have seen a lot of vitriol and we have seen a lot of hatred. Some of this is absolute bigotry, some of it is based in confusion.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about Safe Schools and where the seeds of some of this confusion begin. I am going to go back in time to 2016 and the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee when I was a member of PAEC and was at the table. I had the then member for Kew talking about Safe Schools and his concern that Safe Schools was teaching kids unnecessary lessons, that it was a part of the curriculum, that it was influencing kids’ behaviour, that it was teaching kids to behave in this way or that way, whereas actually it is a program. The then Minister for Education made this point very clearly: he said that Safe Schools does not teach sexuality education. The Safe Schools program is not and does not replace sexuality education. All government schools are required to deliver age-appropriate sexuality programs. But the former member for Kew continued, and he did this over a number of years where he tried to vilify the Safe Schools program. I went to the member for Kew and I pulled him aside and I said, ‘Mate, I am a parent at the pilot school for Safe Schools. I know what this school looks like. What you’re saying is happening in classrooms is not happening – it is my lived experience. What you’re saying my kids are not experiencing, my kids are not seeing, because my kids didn’t need that support.’ It is that confusion, whether it is deliberate or not, that really helps fan the flames of this extreme division, anger and aggression that we are seeing.

Safe Schools is about protecting kids, and it is about protecting kids from exactly the kind of behaviour that we have seen targeted at Eltham Library, that we have seen targeted at Monash council, that we have seen targeted at Banyule council for flying an LGBTIQ+ flag, that we have seen targeted at Lalor for daring to have a queer trivia night, that we have seen targeted across the state. We have even seen schools targeted for having drag story time. We have seen so much unpleasant, unwarranted behaviour that is hurtful and that is damaging. It does incredible damage to our kids. This kind of behaviour hurts our kids more than it hurts anyone. We know that rainbow kids are the ones who are most vulnerable to self-harm and that they have terribly difficult problems with mental health when they are not accepted, when they are made to feel that they do not belong. When we see this hideous behaviour – it is appalling as to how it can affect our kids. It is just shocking.

I want to talk about a couple of emails that I have received from people telling me that they do not feel safe in my community because of what they have seen happen around Eltham Library. And they are adults – they are adults who do not feel safe because of this behaviour. How do the kids feel? How do the kids feel that, for example, in Eltham we had someone drive all the way from Canberra to wave a sign saying how outrageous it was that we had an IDAHOBIT event at Eltham Library today. There is so much vitriol and hatred in these few people – how does this make these vulnerable kids feel? It is appalling, it is unconscionable that they would treat kids in this way, that they would use our vulnerable community for collateral damage. Who knows what it is they are actually trying to achieve? But what we do know that they are achieving is pain. But what we also know they are achieving is community solidarity, and there is no community more solid than mine.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:54): I rise to make some comments on the motion before the house today:

That this house affirms its support for the Safe Schools program and acknowledges that it critically:

(1) supports the well-being of all young people; and

(2) provides valuable resources and support for teachers to foster an inclusive learning environment where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

I think we would all agree that every single child should feel safe. It is the right of every child to feel safe and there is an obligation on all of us to provide a safe environment for these kids.

Today is IDAHOBIT, which is a day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and it is appropriate for us to be talking about this as part of the very important element of what many of our young children, particularly those from an LGBTQI+ background, experience at school and what we need to do to ensure that they have a safe environment. Can I say to every LGBTIQ+ Victorian: you are worthy, you are accepted, you are loved, and you and your kids deserve nothing less than to be embraced by all, including the schools, teachers, friends and communities. We must embrace, support and provide every single opportunity for every child no matter who they are, no matter where they come from and no matter what background they are also from. That extends more broadly to both their ethnic background and their faith, and it is something that I have raised on many occasions, as you know, Speaker, particularly in my community where we have unfortunately an increase in antisemitism and we have seen kids targeted at schools because of their faith background as well.

On this motion I wanted at the outset to just raise a few people in terms of their being staunch advocates in this space, particularly Michael Barnett from Aleph. Michael has been a staunch supporter and has been able to work with and support many of the schools. Very early on he worked with Bialik College and King David, just to name a few, and Mount Scopus has been involved in that, in terms of Jewish schools, but we also have a number of other schools that have been involved in terms of being able to provide a safe environment. There is no question that non-heterosexual Australians experience anxiety at 2½ times the rate of heterosexual people. For depression, the figure is four times the rate of heterosexual people. One in six LGBTIQ+ people have attempted suicide and one-third have harmed themselves. They are alarming figures and say that we must do more to support those who do not feel that they belong and those who feel that it is tough just to be able to get on with their daily lives. We have seen that in many instances. We have seen with organisations like Beyond Blue that 61 per cent of young non-heterosexual people have reported experiencing verbal abuse and 80 per cent have reported physical abuse. We have seen another study that showed 33 per cent of trans people reported discrimination in employment as a result of being trans and the unemployment rate of 19 per cent was more than three times that of the national rate.

We have a great state. Victoria is a state that should be embracing everybody no matter who you are, no matter where you come from. We should not be using politics as a way to fight against things like this. We should be coming together and working in ways to actually help people. I have got to say that certainly during question time today I did not feel that that was doing anything to help anybody, particularly those from the LGBTIQ+ community. I know many from our party, the Liberal Party, the Pride branch which is the fastest growing branch in our Liberal Party, of which I am proud to be a member, would feel pretty alarmed about the way that Labor members attacked the Liberal Party today because that does nothing. That does nothing to try and help people belong. The LGBTIQ+ community should not be used as a political football. We should not be using people and targeting them in that way. We should be talking across the chamber about how we do more. We should absolutely do that.

I am very proud that the Leader of the Opposition the member for Hawthorn, the Manager of Opposition Business the member for Brighton, the leader in the upper house Georgie Crozier and a number of others went to the Pride March not only on this occasion but on a number of occasions and stood side by side with the LGBTIQ+ community. We will continue to do so, whether it is popular or whether it is not popular. We will do it because we care, and we will do it because we do not want this to be seen as a political football. So I say, and I implore those opposite: let us look at how we can work together. Let us look at how we can come together on these things.

Belinda Wilson interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: Well, again I say – and I am trying to do this as calmly and as fairly as I possibly can – that ultimately this is not something that we should be trying to score cheap political points out of. It is something that we should be working together on. And that is where I very proudly stand alongside many of those within my party, as I said, including the Liberal Pride branch, who have been absolutely actively providing a very inclusive part of our party so people can feel welcome and so people can feel supported. And if those opposite did not hear me the first time, it is the fastest growing branch we have within our party. So it is certainly something that we celebrate.

Can I also just move on to some of the schools, particularly, that I want to make mention of today, which do some great work. Unfortunately, only a week or so ago we had a report that our great school, Glen Eira College, had what was labelled a toxic and bullying situation where there were almost 10 social media bullying pages on TikTok and Instagram with students posting –

A member interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: Excuse me – posting cruel memes mocking other students and teachers before flashing identifiable photographs of their targets. Can I say the school takes these things very seriously, and I rang the principal as soon as I was made aware of this and was comforted to know that they were acting immediately on this to ensure that kids feel safe – immediately – and so they should. Looking at Glen Eira College’s Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy, one of the things that I think is very important is, within this policy, it talks about all kids feeling safe, whether they be from different backgrounds, whether they be students with disabilities or whether they be from the LGBTIQ+ background. It says this, and I note:

Every person involved in our school has an important role in promoting child safety and wellbeing and promptly raising any issues or concerns about a child’s safety.

That is where we need to be. It is something that we all need to work together on. Whether you are at the school, whether you are a parent at the school or whether you are part of the broader school community, everyone needs to work together to ensure that they feel safe. If you see something wrong, you need to tell somebody. We certainly saw that in a number of inquiries that we had here in this Parliament. We led the way in terms of that in the child safety area, particularly in the child abuse work that was done here in this Parliament, and I think that is something that we must continue to do to ensure that we have kids that feel safe.

At the moment we have issues that are still before the courts. I will not make comment on specific details regarding Brighton Secondary College, but it was absolutely appalling that we had a number of kids that were targeted – a number of kids that saw over that time, because they have Jewish backgrounds, antisemitic attacks. The government has spent literally millions of dollars of taxpayers money trying to defend the school, and these poor kids have again had to endure a horrific time at the school. It has been appalling the way those kids have been treated, and I hope that the government ensures that there are systems in place and that kids of all backgrounds are safe, because that is what kids need and expect.

Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (15:04): I am most pleased to make a contribution today on this motion that this house affirms our support for Safe Schools and acknowledges that the program supports the wellbeing of young people and provides valuable resources and support for teachers to foster an inclusive learning environment.

I do not doubt the sincerity of some members opposite when they say that they support this program, and I do not doubt the sincerity of some members opposite when they say that looking after LGBTIQ+ Victorians is important. I do not. But they cannot continue to deny that they sit in a party room with people who hold views on these matters that are absolutely repugnant. You cannot pretend on one hand that you are all for equality and then pretend that in 2018 you did not take a policy to the election that was about scrapping Safe Schools. It is not a matter of debate, it is a matter of bare fact that those opposite took a policy to the 2018 election – whilst they were busily beating up on fictional African gangs – to scrap Safe Schools. Some of the language they used at the time was outrageous. Someone said:

Programs like Safe Schools … impose a politically correct gender and sexuality agenda on schools.

That was T Smith, former member for Kew. I am glad he is ‘former’. But that is a former member. There was a teacher who as recently as 2017 said that the department who were the makers of Safe Schools had:

… clearly used it as a ruse to sneak erotic sexualised content that has nothing to do with bullying into the classroom.

What a load of tripe! I am delighted that the author of that comment is no longer a teacher. I am concerned, though, that she is a member of the other place. It is absolutely incredible that these people continue to be preselected by those opposite. These views may very well be anathema to the member for Brighton, the member for Narracan or others on that side of the chamber, but the reality is they cannot pretend that they are not sitting in their party room – these bigots, these people who want to fan the flames of hate every single day, these people who want to beat up on trans kids like it is a hobby.

It is extraordinary to me that anyone with a personal tweeting history of, say, 200 or 300 tweets would have 95 or 98 per cent of those tweets about one topic; it would not matter what the topic was. If it was about Star Wars, I would reckon you were a bit weird. If it was about soccer, I would reckon you were a bit weird. But stuff me if Mrs Deeming does not have 300-odd tweets all about trans kids. She is obsessed, and it is weird and it is offensive, and beating up on trans kids is not something that anyone should be tolerating on that side. And yet 11 out of 30 said, ‘We should stick with her.’ Well, shame on them, because if you keep these people in your party room, it is not just the standard you are walking past, it is the standard you are holding hands with.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, numerous speakers have strayed somewhat from the motion, and that is completely understandable. Would the member please return to the motion, because casting aspersions across parts of the entire chamber is offensive. I would ask you to bring the member back to the motion.

Will FOWLES: I thank the member for Brighton for his efforts in this regard, but it absolutely remains the case that I am not a member of a political party that has members who have these views in it. I am not. And there is a goodly chunk of those –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Meng HeangTak): Member for Ringwood, can I just rule on the point of order. It has been a wideranging debate, but I ask the member for Ringwood to come back to the motion.

Will FOWLES: Thank you very much, Acting Speaker. I am not a member of a party that considers it okay for these people to be in my party, and I talk about the party more generally. The reality is she might no longer be part of the parliamentary Liberal Party, but she is a part of the Liberal Party. She is still a member, and if you ask the president, he says there is no move afoot to boot her out. What that is saying is that the Liberal Party accepts as a premise that those views are fine within their particular world view. And I say no. It should not be fine. It should not be even close to fine. To hold views like saying that the Department of Education is trying to sneak erotic sexualised content into the classroom – I mean, what a load of nonsense. Apart from the fact that it defies a bare factual reading, it speaks to a really significant, deeply held crusade against being welcoming and respectful and putting our arms around a community that in many respects does it really tough.

We know how over-represented trans kids are in all of the mental health stats; we know that. That is a big part of the reason why the Victorian Labor government is putting so much investment into health services, particularly for trans youth but LGBTIQ youth more generally. These are really, really important issues, and when people like that person stand out the front and beat up on trans kids, with their acolytes, they do enormous damage – enormous damage to those kids and to their families. I appreciate that not everyone on that side of the chamber shares her views. I do not pretend that it is the case that they all share that viewpoint. But they are prepared to share a party membership with her and they are prepared – many of them – to share a party room with her. Well, you just cannot be an alternative government and consider that these fringe, mad, right-wing views are an appropriate way to be an alternative government.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, you ruled a couple of minutes ago. I suggest that perhaps the member has defied your ruling, and I would ask you to ask the member to return back to the question. I appreciate it is a wideranging debate, but it should be done respectfully. I think that people in this chamber universally agree with the sentiments that are being expressed by all of the members in this place, and I think respectful and mature members would recognise that.

Sarah Connolly: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, the member is being entirely relevant to the motion before the house. He is reflecting on comments and actions and behaviours of members of those opposite, including in the other chamber, that go to the very heart of exactly the reason why we need the Safe Schools program in every school in the first place. He is being entirely relevant to the motion at hand.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Meng HeangTak): I think it is a point of debate.

Will FOWLES: Thank you very much, Acting Speaker. Look, I have sought to highlight in my contribution today that there is clearly a diversity of viewpoints in that lot over there but there is an absolute unity of view and purpose when it comes to these issues from Labor. Because only Labor when we say equality is not negotiable actually deliver on that every single day in government. Only Labor is prepared to stand up and say unequivocally – every single member of the Labor caucus in this place will stand up and say – that we love members of this community, that we respect them, that we get our arms around them and that we want to support them. That cannot be said of every other group in this Parliament, in this chamber or in the other place, and it is critical for Victorians to understand on this day, IDAHOBIT, the day against homophobia and transphobia and intersex discrimination and biphobia – more than any other day – that we stand with these communities, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, and we will stare down the hate. They cannot win. They cannot be allowed to win. These people are only about hate. They are only about division. Those who seek to disrupt the lawful activities, the inclusive activities, whether it is drag story time or whether it is a normal council meeting or whether it is any other event, ought be stopped dead in their tracks because they are not behaving like Australians and they are not behaving like Victorians. They are doing nothing to assist our society becoming stronger and better and more diverse, because diversity is very, very much our strength. I absolutely support the motion before the chamber.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (15:15): I rise to speak on the motion, which ostensibly is a motion about love and a motion about supporting children to be loved no matter who they are. I am certain that all members in this place want all children to be loved – I am certain of that – and that is a good thing. There have been circumstances where people have said and done things which are inappropriate, and they have said and done things which are worse than inappropriate. Not everybody in every society, unfortunately, values love, values equality and values inclusivity as perhaps everybody in this chamber does. Therefore I think it is incumbent upon all of us to do whatever we can to make sure that everybody in our communities is brought on that journey to ensure that that happens. I have made a commitment, both as a shadow minister and before that as a backbencher, to do exactly that.

There have been times when this place has dealt with difficult issues or parties have dealt with difficult issues or difficult issues have arisen because of external events, and I have tried in every circumstance to talk about what I view as right and to live up to my commitment to my community in calling out behaviour of that nature no matter who it is. One of the points I have made over and over again is that some have put it that freedom of speech gives you the right to have your view whether or not it is bigoted. Firstly, I am not sure I agree with that, but that view has been put forward. But I also believe that it is my right and my freedom of speech to call someone a bigot in return. If someone wants to use their freedom of speech to use words and express sentiments that undermine another person and undermine the way they feel loved, the way they feel equal or the way they feel cared for and respected, I feel that I have a right to call that out.

I would say to the Premier in relation to these issues that one of the things that our Parliament can do on both sides of the chamber is understand that the best way to achieve a Victoria we want is to ensure that we all work together to do that, and that means making sure that we do not play political games. If behaviour deserves to be called out, it should be called out, and the Premier would be perfectly entitled to do that. But I think we can all do better to ensure that partisanship does not occur. I do not want to dwell on it, but this morning I was made aware of an event in the Parliament in relation to the celebration of today, and unlike every other event that occurs in this place, not all members were invited. The first thing I did is I went personally into the Premier’s office and asked for details of that event. I asked for details of the location and the time, and I was not provided with them. I still have not been provided with those details. It was the first thing that I did as the shadow minister, and I can say the minister did not provide those to me as the shadow either. I can assure you I would have been the first person into that event and would have joined that event had I known about it, and I am sure that everybody in this place would know that to be true.

I heard the Premier today talking about behaviour and preferences in his final contribution. I did not make the point, because I was just returning to the chamber after being unfairly removed on a previous day; I am sure, as the Speaker is not here, the Speaker would give me that little bit of latitude in describing it as such. But I would say in return to that – and I heard the points that he made – when you are concerned about the behaviour of a person and believe it needs to be called out, you also need to not accept their vote when they vote with you in the Parliament. In the federal Parliament I managed the house for the Liberal Party when a member crossed to the crossbench and his behaviour was totally unacceptable. In fact there was more than one, but one person’s behaviour was totally unacceptable – totally and utterly unacceptable. I am not in any way reflecting on the party, but the decision was taken by the coalition to not accept that person’s vote and to immediately pair every time that person voted with our party. I hear the Premier’s comments, but I now put it to the Premier directly and say, ‘Are you going to accept that person’s vote every time in the upper house? Because if you have the courage of your convictions, you will set aside their vote, as the precedent was set previously.’

I am going to get in trouble for saying this, I am sure. I do not want people with those views in my party, and it is a very difficult discussion to have. It is a very difficult discussion, because one person is not the majority. In a democratic party everybody has a right and there are processes et cetera, et cetera. But I have called out behaviour every single time that it has occurred, and I will keep doing it. I did not have to make that point but I have made that point. But just as I have made that point, I would say to the Premier, ‘Why don’t we draw a line in the sand? Why don’t we now draw a line in the sand and say, “If we do not support the behaviour of certain people, why don’t we consider how we behave in the other place – how we behave in relation to that member?”’ And I call on the Premier, who I trust is listening, to consider that over coming deliberations in the other place.

But as I say and began by saying, this motion is about love. This motion is about love. It is about inclusivity. It is about respect. And we have a challenge like we do with many other challenges in ensuring that the state becomes the best place it can be, because its best days are in front of us. That means there will be challenges and that we as a state can all help people learn. We can help people do better. We can help people be more inclusive. We can absolutely do that, but it means that we need to do that together. We need to do that as a Parliament, and we need to show leadership in doing that.

One of the ways that you can achieve that best – and it is a point that I have made to the Premier before – is by being magnanimous. It is something unfortunately that we do not see from the Premier. To bring a whole community with you, you need to accept the allies wherever they are and you need to partner with them. You need to ensure that you build a consensus that can talk to different parts of the community, because all of us represent different parts of the community and all of us have a role in talking and working with different parts of the community, and that is actually a good thing. It is actually a strength, and it is one of the differences that I certainly see between the two parliaments over a long period of time.

In this place we could all do more to work together on these important issues. We all could do more on these important issues to ensure that as a Parliament we do what we should be doing for children, which this motion goes to, to ensure that they are loved and they feel loved, so that when a child is questioning who they are, as the member for Eltham spoke to so eloquently before, that child does not feel lonely and unloved, they know that they are and they automatically know that they are. The best way to do that is for us all to work together and not play politics, and I would call on the Premier to work with us in doing that.

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (15:24): Every day, but especially on 17 May, IDAHOBIT, the international day against LGBTQI+ discrimination, we stand with LGBTQI+ Victorians. Equality, inclusivity and safety are not negotiable in Victoria. IDAHOBIT is the anniversary of 17 May 1990 – you might wonder why I am reiterating this point, and I will come to that – when the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the classification of diseases. We celebrate and remember these advancements towards LGBTQI+ equality. Just thinking about that, homosexuality being under the classification of diseases, with today’s perception of these matters it is horrifying to think it was ever classified as a disease. How did it ever come to that? On that note I will say we can truly celebrate how far we have come, noting that there are many barriers still in place and many issues that have to be surmounted. But I do want to celebrate that progression and that acknowledgement, and I think IDAHOBIT is the perfect way to do that, noting of course that we should be respecting and honouring all people in our community every day, regardless of their sexuality or otherwise.

A further point I want to make about that is that it is one thing to talk about these matters and to use terms such as ‘inclusivity’ et cetera; it is another thing to actually implement real change. Further to that point, it is one thing to talk about it in a context, but another to then change the image in another context or with another social media outlet or another form of media to various different audiences, when in fact what we are really striving for is to be consistent everywhere.

I just want to pick up on a point made by the member for Brighton – and I may have misunderstood a part of his discussion, noting there were many sensitive and respectful elements to his discussion; I do want to pay respect to that – just to say that when it comes to the Premier on matters of equality, no-one can question his absolute conviction, consistency and integrity on this issue. I mean, seriously, in any context throughout time, he has always been consistent on this issue. I just think one needs to take a little bit of care when there are questions raised with regard to his integrity on matters of equality – unequivocal. Of course that flows down to our party. We are as a party very much unified and consistent on this issue. I completely agree that the last thing we want to do is play politics, hence the premise of Safe Schools is all about very constructive, evidence-based programs that are literally helping, no doubt, to save lives and to prevent bullying and harassment into the future, or at a minimum, to surmount these kinds of horrible occurrences that can take place in our schools. At a very minimum it will help all Victorian students to feel safe in their schools.

One little caveat I do want to put in this discussion is that for those opposite to be saying ‘Oh, don’t play politics, because we have this sterling record in this place’ – we all know that is not true. Whilst there are many, I have no doubt, of those opposite who are seeking to reinforce equality and to be very supportive in that space – and I do not deny or in any way diminish their conviction on that matter – it has been extremely confusing. There are any number of signals and positions that have been projected by a number of members of the opposition, consistently even to this day, to the extent that one has to go to a newspaper to check who voted to support a certain person with these views and who voted against them so we know who is supporting one position and who is supporting another. If that is confusing for us, what does that mean for the community as well?

However, if we could be absolutely certain that those opposite were truly united on this issue, the confusion would melt away and, with that, so would these elements of party politics et cetera. So I think one has to be careful when saying, ‘Don’t play party politics.’ It can be manipulative to say, ‘Nothing to see here; don’t look at history. We are crystal clear on this issue’, when we all know that is not true. You have the right to say that when you actually have an unequivocal position that is not confusing. I have to say, over the past week I was looking through articles to see who has this position and who has that position – I do not know where they all sit on this. So if I do not know, how can we expect the broader community to know where the members of the opposition sit on this issue?

Having said that, I want to put a further caveat: I have no doubt that there are many opposite who unequivocally would back in and endorse absolute equality in this state, who want to ensure that every Victorian student knows that they are loved and who want to ensure that there are Safe Schools programs and mental health support in our schools. But I think it is a bit rich to query us when we say at a minimum we are confused about their position on this, and secondly, to in any way question the integrity of the Premier on such matters as equality when we know that he has an unequivocal record in terms of his stance on equality. It is that kind of leadership – because that is what we are talking about – that flows down to all Labor members. That is why I am also proud to be part of our government, because this truly reflects our position when it comes to our attitude to all Victorian students and all members of the LGBTQI+ community. We are unequivocal on this; there is no confusion on the matter. I hope that in some way clarifies some of the questions that have been raised by those opposite with regard to our position versus their position.

Let us look at Safe Schools and what it actually means. It is a program for principals, teachers and school communities that provides schools with professional learning for school staff in creating safe and inclusive classrooms; support to prevent and respond to bullying incidents impacting LGBTIQ+ students; support to adopt a whole-of-school approach to preventing discrimination, harassment and bullying; support to review school policies and practice to improve inclusion for LGBTQIA+ students; support to develop student-led activities to create positive, inclusive change; consultation, advice and resources to support individual students; and networking and linkages to evidence-based information, resources and local support services.

As you can see, talking about these issues is extremely important. Visibility of these issues is extremely important, hence events such as the Pride March et cetera being all about making sure that members of the LGBTQI+ community are able to be as loud and proud as they want to be and to be accepted just as they are and loved just as they are. It is also just as important to have the whole community backing such events, because this kind of visibility is certainly helpful when on the path to stamping out discrimination, bigotry, harassment and the like in our community – hence it is no wonder it is an incrementally very popular event in our community. On that note, I just would like to conclude by saying that all Victorian students, in fact all Victorians, should know they are loved.

Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (15:34): I rise to speak on the motion. I want to focus mainly on the government purporting to support the wellbeing of all young people and to provide valuable resources and support for teachers to foster an inclusive learning environment where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. I rise to speak on this because of some really disturbing events that have taken place in South-West Coast. What I would say is that despite the extraordinary effort by the teachers, principals and support staff, all is not well in our schools right across Victoria. I will speak to specific issues that are taking place in South-West Coast, but not for one minute do I think it is specific to South-West Coast.

I have long personal experience with the education system. I have been parenting my own students in the school system for 30 years: my eldest son turns 35 next month, my last child has just finished secondary college and my grandchildren are already at school. I have been on school council. I have always been involved in raising funds – in small communities that is a non-negotiable. I have got a lot of friends in a small community who are teachers, and a lot of the teachers who I am talking to and hearing from have taught my children. My children love their teachers and the teachers love my children; these are capable teachers with decades of experience behind them that I am referring to. And they tell me they are throwing their hands in the air, that they have not got the tools that they need. Despite the efforts of the principals and despite the efforts of the support staff, they really are at their wits’ end. They tell me that there is not a way to have the tools they need to put the boundaries around the students that some students need. They say that the kids know that, and as a result some of the behaviours in the classroom are out of control. Their words are, ‘We do not know where to go and we are throwing our hands in the air.’

That is not all students, and our schools are fantastic. But I will not shy away from what is happening. There have been at least three incidents of serious assault – I am talking captured on CCTV, I am talking head injuries, I am talking hospitalisation, I am talking reporting to the police. Some of these events are so hideous that the parents have been told not to view the videos of their children. One father said to me that the school is so hamstrung without the ability to do anything about it, that the intervention order that was arranged through the police is unable to take effect in the school and it can only be done if the parties agree. The victim is terrified because the perpetrator is able to taunt and throw in the person’s face their power over the other student – these are 13- and 14-year-old kids I am talking about. I want to continually say the parents are pleased with everything the principal is doing and the teacher is doing, but they do not have the ability, because they do not have the tools, to really make a difference.

I wrote to the minister and I implored the minister to understand and to intervene because one student has left and gone to another state – to South Australia, our neighbouring state, not far from our part of the world. Another student is homeschooled, traumatised and cannot re-engage at the school because there was no-one able to walk her between classrooms and she was so terrified of the students that were attacking her violently. I wrote to the minister and this is the response I got:

Schools are supported to ensure appropriate structures and supports are in place to mitigate risk and ensure student … safety.

I spoke to some support staff about these supports that are in place. The minister said:

Schools in the South-West Coast have access to the Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu …

The minister told me about that when she spoke to this motion. She said there are 56 programs available on Menu that you can pull up, as a school, to look at what is available. The support staff tell me that none of them are available in the regions; they are all Melbourne-based programs.

The response goes on to refer to the Doctors in Secondary School program. The support staff tell me that the doctors have pulled out and that Headspace has pulled out, and that was over a year ago, because there are not doctors available for this. The minister told me that the schools are supported through the Department of Education’s inclusion workforces, which include psychologists, social workers and speech therapists. The support workers tell me that is called the triple-S program – psychologists, social workers and speech therapists. According to a support worker, there is a five-year waiting list in Warrnambool. You usually finish secondary school in that time. We are told by the minister there are behaviour coaches. They said, ‘What’s that?’ The support staff do not know what that is. School nurses – I know a lot of school nurses, and they tell me they are inundated. It is such a disturbing place to work because it is all about the kids’ emotional challenges and how terrible the kids are feeling and how much distress is going on. They have got nowhere to refer them to. I have been called many times by school nurses so disturbed. It goes on:

Strategies implemented in South-West Coast schools include behaviour support …

The answer I got was, ‘Not present.’ That is the plan in Berry Street. ‘Yes,’ they said, ‘but it is not implemented.’ Education model Big Life – they said that is really good for primary schools and not so great for secondary. That was what I was informed. Safety planning – they said, ‘Not formalised.’ And the list goes on. The minister writes to me and says, ‘All is well. Here are all the tools that they’ve got.’ The people at the ground tell me they are not available, and they are not in South-West Coast because we are too far from Melbourne.

Minister, I know in your speech you implored us to understand that you are doing the best you can do. That was what the minister said in her speech. I beg you, Minister, to listen to the teachers and to the principals. They are worried about the students. The students are only expressing their disturbed behaviour because of things like lockdown for two years and there being no tools available for the teachers to be able to put the disciplines in place – the boundaries and the consequences – that need to be there and that children do respond to. It is not an old-fashioned approach. It is an approach that shows love, care and responsibility. Give the teachers those tools and let us recognise the reality of what is happening. We cannot just pretend that this is not real.

I am so concerned about what I am hearing. When I spoke to a support worker recently she said the kids are talking to each other saying things like ‘Just go and kill yourself’. These are words that she said she is hearing from the students. That is what they are being told, mostly in cyberspace, and she said no-one can do anything. The cyber commissioner is in place, but nothing has ever been acted upon. There is no consequence. We have to, as the adults in the room, recognise the truth of what is really happening.

I am saying this in the context that these teachers are experienced, decent, hardworking, capable people. They need the tools because of course the kids know when they can get away with it. If you have got an intervention order, or whatever you call them these days, on a child and the school is not able to implement it, it is just not working. That is how severe this is. I was shocked to hear we had situations of assault let alone intervention orders in the school. Imagine trying to work out how to organise your school program and having to worry about intervention orders and which students cannot be in the same class as others, because that is not unusual; that is actually fairly usual. I wanted to raise that in the Parliament because I am so concerned that this minister says there is so much available, and I do not know what more I can do. The psychologists are talking to me, the principals are talking to me, the parents are talking to me and the children are feeling like they cannot attend school. The children who are doing these actions are minorities, but they are controlling and destroying the learning environment, and we have to act. We have to give them the guidance they need.

In the last 44 seconds I have got, I will also raise an issue in Nullawarre Primary School, which the principal showed me around last week, where the school buses and the cars all pull up together on an area that needs asphalting, and the kinder kids who also attend mingle with the schoolkids, mingle with the school buses and mingle with the parents turning up. It is just a really dangerous situation. So with the budget coming up next week I am looking forward to the Nullawarre Primary School getting an allocation of funding so we can asphalt the area, mark it out clearly and put some distance between the children and the buses, because safety should be our priority in schools. I hope the minister lives up to the words that she talks about and puts that front of mind.

Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (15:44:304:): I too rise to make a contribution on this motion before the house. It is really a perfect day to be standing here and speaking in support of safe schools, the Safe Schools program and the very important work that that program enables in our schools with the education tools for teaching staff to be able to harness, with today being the very day back in 1990 that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the classification of diseases. As the member for Albert Park just emphatically stated, it is almost impossible to believe that there existed a time not so long ago that it was thought that being gay – homosexuality – was in fact a disease and something spreading and something that you can catch.

I would like to think that today everyone in this house and out in the broader community would understand that that is not in fact true and never was true. We have certainly moved a long way past the 1990 view of what it was to be gay, homosexual and part of our LGBTIQ community. But I do want to say that today we are going to celebrate and, most importantly, remember the advances towards LGBTIQ equality here in Victoria, in our country and indeed across the world. I know there have been members on the other side that have stood and emphatically talked about their support, on IDAHOBIT, of our LGBTIQ community and how far we have come and how far we have to go. But today on this side of the house we have stood here and talked about how we stand shoulder to shoulder with the community. As we say to all Victorians: equality, inclusivity and safety are not negotiable in Victoria.

I did want to begin my contribution this afternoon by saying that the Andrews Labor government is, always has been and always will be proud to stand with LGBTIQ+ students, teachers and school staff every single day of the year. Many of you would know that I am a very proud western suburbs MP. Some out west have described me as a woman of faith, but I am very much raising my children in the Catholic faith, and I am very proud to stand here and say that my family and I stand each and every single day with the LGBTIQ+ community.

Now, I was not going to talk about the political hot potato that I saw in the 2018 election and the 2022 election that has just gone. The politicking on a grotesque scale in my community in the western suburbs targeted almost in a predatory manner vulnerable people in my community around Safe Schools. I want to give a couple of examples of that because I know the member for Brighton has stood and talked about how we should not be treating this as a political hot potato, passing it around and arguing about it. We know that not every member here in the Parliament of Victoria has the same views. It can be really great to have differing views, but in some cases it does inflict – and has inflicted – harm and trauma and does not contribute to Victorians being the best people that they can be.

In 2018 I had a gentleman run against me. He did not run for the Liberal or National parties – I will say that on the record – but he did stand beside me to say that he was pretty pleased with the work that Labor was doing in the western suburbs. But there was one thing he could not stand about our party and that was the Safe Schools program. His child did not go to a school that had a Safe Schools program and, I have no doubt, would not go on to a high school that had anything like a Safe Schools program. But I asked him what he thought a Safe Schools program was and why he thought that we had put it into local schools. He said to me that we were encouraging his daughter to be a lesbian, essentially. His daughter I think at the time was in primary school. He had never been to the school curriculum website to have a look at what Safe Schools actually was and to find that it was an education program and a place where teachers could go to access a wide range of tools and information to assist students who identified as LGBTIQ+ in the school and help them feel safe and supported so they could go on to become a young adult who felt proud of their identity and could accept who they were.

I pointed out to him that being a lesbian or being gay was not something that you could one day catch or that a government could encourage you to be – that it was something that you were born as and eventually people will be who they were born to be. He assured me that would not be the case for his family, and I assured him that if his child was at one of our schools that had the Safe Schools program and did in fact identify at some stage as being part of the LGBTIQ+ community, he could be assured that the school, the teaching staff and the support staff would have access to resources to support his daughter.

In 2022 and the lead-up to that election that we had last November, there was a lot of dog whistling that happened, not on this side of the house but in the opposition’s ranks. Member for Brighton, it is lovely to have you back in here because I am just talking about political hot potatoes. There were numerous people who were running for the upper house – and you can guess which region they ran in – attending places in my community talking about being someone of faith and that being someone of faith meant that things like our conversion therapy practice, which I know that the Liberals actually voted in favour of, was something that we had done to impinge on their religious freedom and their faith and that Labor was against their faith. It was something quite outrageous actually. Time and time again I visited different parts of my community –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, in relation to standing order 118 and reflections on members, the member just said that the opposition voted in favour of conversion therapy. That is absolutely untrue. In fact not only did we vote against it, I spoke publicly against it. I think it discredits the member to be making those types of assertions in the chamber.

Paul Edbrooke: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, I do not believe that is a point of order. The member was talking about a group of people, not reflecting on an actual member, and she was pertinent to the subject at hand. I believe this is just a gratuitous opportunity for the opposition to hear themselves again. It is not for the opposition to judge whether the truth is told in this place.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Meng HeangTak): There is no point of order, member for Brighton.

Sarah CONNOLLY: As I was just saying, it is very disappointing to see current-day members of those opposite in the other place attending different venues in the western suburbs and what I would say is misleading people about bills that have been put through this house to ensure that all Victorians are safe, that we have equality and that there is fairness.

In the time that I have got left I do want to say that the Safe Schools program is something that is incredibly important in our local schools. Teachers, time and time again, have reached out to me to talk about the importance and the times that they have been able to draw down on the plethora of information that sits on that website. It is a conversation that I will continue to have, not with a lot of people– despite what some might think, there are not a lot of people of this view – but with people who are wondering or a bit nervous about what the real purpose of Safe Schools is. I always say to them that the reason why we had to roll out this program is that we knew that young children, students at school, were really suffering. They were bullied, they were harassed and they were more likely to self-harm and commit suicide. A child’s life, every life, is incredibly precious. Safe Schools is about protecting that through education, through acceptance and through tolerance. It is something that time and time again members on this side of the house have stood and spoken so passionately about and have called out time and time again. It is sad to see it have to happen, time and time again – even today, on IDAHOBIT – about behaviour and activities and words that have been used by people that continue to sit in the Liberal Party. It is absolutely appalling continuing to see us having to call this out time and time again. I really do hope in the years to come that we can celebrate that there is true equality and fairness and justice for all.

Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (15:54): I rise to support the motion. The Greens unequivocally support Safe Schools and recognise how vitally important it is to support our LGBTIQA+ community. I would like to give a nod to Roz Ward, who spearheaded and founded the Safe Schools program. I was not supported in the way that students these days are supported. In fact I was brought to the principal’s office for canoodling with my girlfriend in school. So I know firsthand how vitally important it is to ensure that our young queer folk are supported and feel loved and seen and heard and, importantly, safe and protected. Safe Schools should be rolled out and funded in every single school that receives government funding. The protections from this government just do not go far enough to make sure that everyone in our community is safe and protected.

This government is very good, and has been particularly good today, at strong statements. I see you all ordered your pins in time for IDAHOBIT – well done – and the cupcakes were delicious. But our queer community is scared. Our queer community is suffering from disproportionate rates of depression, of self-harm, of suicide. That is why the Greens yesterday attempted to introduce our bill to expand anti-vilification laws, so that all the hate speech and the vilification and the discrimination that has been spoken about today in this chamber can be made unlawful. We will continue to push to strengthen the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 so that no school in Victoria and no service in Victoria can discriminate against people on the basis of their sexuality, their gender or their gender expression. We will push to strengthen the powers and to increase the funding of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, not slash funding and slash jobs like this government is planning to do in this upcoming budget.

This year alone we have seen the far right mobilising and the threats to our queer community escalating. We have seen neo-Nazis converging on the steps of Parliament with anti-trans groups spouting anti-trans rhetoric. We have seen members of this Parliament using their platform to spread vitriol. Ten inclusive, family-friendly events that have been organised in libraries across Victoria have been cancelled because of threats from the far right. The need to act is now. It is not just about strong statements. These actions send a strong message to our queer community, and every day this government delays it reinforces this message: you are not safe. You are not safe in the library, you are not safe in Parliament, you are not safe in the street, you are not safe in your school.

This Premier turned his back yesterday. Literally and figuratively he turned his back on a queer MP standing up to represent the queer community, begging for protections against vilification and hate speech, begging for protections for our queer community. Instead of congratulatory motions and patting ourselves on the back, my colleagues and I in the Greens will continue fighting until everyone in our queer community is safe and protected and truly free to be who they are.

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (15:58): As a former teacher I am very pleased to rise and speak on this motion today. As the member for Ringwood said, it is very hard to sit here and listen to some of the well-wishing, some of the positive thoughts, some of the unicorn-like approaches from those on the opposition benches when you look at the members of their party. Some of those members of that party are fanning those flames of hate. When we hear about issues with especially young LGBTIQ kids – that they are reading things about themselves, about their community, on social media, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram – these are the people who are the catalysts for that. These are the leaders in our community that are fanning that hate. It is very peculiar to be standing here and hearing some really well-meaning people on that side of the chamber who, if I can put it mildly, could really use some backbone, could really stand up in their own chambers, in their own caucus –

The SPEAKER: I need to interrupt business for the matter of public importance.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.