2001 Election
Wrap-Up

Meet the Parents

Upcoming Events

Groundbreaking reform for WA

Co-convenors’ Report

THE LOBBY TEAM

Female Convenor
Alex Sosnov

Male Convenor
Anthony Schembri

Secretary
Andrew Pickles

Treasurer
Jenny Mann

Committee Members
Grant Colquhuon
Luke Gahan
Shane Garland
Nadine Lutherborrow
Gillian Mahoney
Nikki Maloney
Jenni Millbank
Anthony Powell
Kathy Sant
Naomi Sharp
Suzy Tay

To Contact Us:
Phone: 02 9360 6650
Fax: 9331 7963
e-mail: glrl@rainbow.net.au

NEWSLETTER: February 2002

2001 ELECTION WRAP-UP

Last year the Lobby undertook its most significant foray into the national arena with our campaigning leading up to and during the Federal poll of 10 November. While the result probably means three more years of nothing on issues such as superannuation, national anti-discrimination laws and fertility rights, the Lobby did succeed in raising awareness – and pushing the non-conservative parties – on these and other issues.

We developed a strategy for the election early in May last year, which was revisited and fine-tuned as the campaign proceeded. Areas targeted included superannuation, Federal anti-discrimination legislation, taxation reforms, social security, IVF, and issues requiring regulatory rather than legislative change, such as immigration. Super reform, however, was the most visible issue through the Lobby’s ‘Superannuation, Super Discrimination’ campaign. Anti-discrimination legislation was also a priority. We also encouraged community members to be correctly enrolled in order to have a voice.

Lobbying

A decision was taken that a third Howard Government was unlikely to support law reform, and that the best chance of reform was from the combination of Labor, Greens and Democrats. Lobbying, therefore, focused on these parties.

Our superannuation campaign ‘Superannuation, Super Discrimination’ achieved a very high community profile with posters, pamphlets, articles and ads in the community press. It successfully drew attention to the unequal treatment of same-sex couples and encouraged people to contact their Federal MP in support of reform, and to make a will to protect their partner or child. The timing of the campaign in the lead-up to the announcement of the election meant there was good awareness of the issue by the time the election was on.

We distributed information on our issues to every federal ALP, Democrat and Green MP in Australia and to all Federal NSW Liberals. Our material was also used as the basis for information distributed to Victorian candidates by the VGLRL. All Federal NSW and ACT Labor parliamentarians and many from states without rights groups (SA, NT, Qld) also received phone calls from Committee members.

We met with shadow Attorney General Robert McClelland, ALP MPs Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek, Democrats National President Matthew Baird, and attended the launch of the Greens GLBTI policy. We were unable to secure a meeting with Attorney General Daryl Williams.

Surveying the pollies

The Lobby joined up with ACON to conduct a survey of all the significant political parties. The results were publicised via an SSO ad, e-mail and on our website.

We decided to take a strong public stance on the poor record of the Howard Government, drawing attention to that record and advising gay and lesbian voters not to help return it. We did not advocate a vote for anyone in particular, although we praised both the Greens and Democrats for their policies and record, and acknowledged the commitment of Labor on superannuation.

Advocating against Howard was controversial with a small number of people, and the Lobby copped some flak for it. It generated a great deal of media interest in NSW and other states and put some pressure on progressive Liberals to justify why our community should consider voting conservative.

What we achieved

1. Improved community awareness, particularly of super discrimination.
2. Much greater coverage and debate on the election and its possible impact on the gay and lesbian community than would otherwise have been the case. The last SSO before the election was packed with election news, ads, profiles and letters to the editor as well as our article, ad and survey.
3. Enhanced Lobby profile.
4. Enhanced Lobby standing with Federal politicians.
5. Greater commitment to superannuation reform from Labor.
6. A commitment from Labor, Greens and Democrats not to support social security changes before beneficial changes.
7. Good progress on developing an acceptable anti-discrimination bill, based on consultation with our community (somewhat stalled at present).
8. Confirmed support from the Greens and Democrats and in-principle support (but no commitment) from Labor for anti-discrimination legislation.
9. Some commitment from Labor, Democrats and Greens to consultation with rights groups on gay and lesbian rights issues.
10. A more comprehensive picture of the position of all the parties as a result of the GLRL/ACON survey.

Future issues

Our greater involvement in the Federal campaign has thrown up a number of issues for us to consider, including:

1. Our commitment to Federal issues over the life of this government.
2. Whether to proceed with drafting anti-discrimination legislation, and how to progress the likelihood of such legislation being passed by a future government.
3. Our view on a national rights organisation and, if there should be one, how it should be organised.
4. What we have learnt that can be used in future election campaigns.

Kathy Sant