Thursday, 19 October 2023

Political debate

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (09:55): This week we have seen a crucial debate on race and our constitution reduced to name-calling; an unprecedented attack on Israel by terrorists that saw women raped and murdered, babies beheaded and children burnt alive – another opportunity for the Greens to call out an end to the so-called Israeli occupation of Palestine; two women who sat in the gallery misdiagnosed and mistreated for transgenderism speaking out about the devastating and irreversible outcomes of these treatments; and a motion designed to protect children from harm called hateful and voted down. Hundreds of women at the candlelight vigil in memory of Celeste Manno, a young woman murdered by a stalker, heard her mum talk about the desperate need for legal reform and how our former Premier and former Attorney-General told her to just be patient. It is obvious that politics does not serve people anymore, it serves political elites and activists. We have lost the art of debate, and we have exchanged it for cheap shots and name-calling. Our job is to secure better outcomes for Victorians, and we do not do that by stifling debate. If we have an argument, it will stand up to scrutiny, and it is time that we face those things for the Victorian people.