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Pages tagged "Sarah Hanson-Young"


Would the real Senator Hanson-Young please stand up?

Posted on Blog · August 28, 2014 10:00 AM
Last Thursday I was giving evidence at a Senate committee examining a Greens Bill to recognise overseas same-sex marriages.



I was presenting with a group of representatives of the Roman Catholic, Baptist and Presbyterian churches.

We explained why changing the definition of marriage was a bad idea for the rights of children to know and be loved by their biological parents and why it was a threat to free speech and religion.



The bill’s author, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young chose not to engage us on the substance of our arguments.

However, in a welcome gesture, she struck a conciliatory note with us at the public hearings (see page 49).



“The most important thing in this debate, and I have seen many of you across this table on various occasions, is I think the level of debate is becoming more respectful. That is what I wanted to raise with you because I have been doing this for a long time and I think we are becoming more concise on both sides about what it is that we care about and what it is that the law should and should not cover. I wanted to thank you for participating in a good-natured way.”



We were glad to hear this because those of us campaigning to retain the definition of marriage have often been called bigots and homophobes and even told there is no place in Australia for people who hold our views.



I thought that perhaps we were entering a new phase where we could be free to speak without these pejorative slurs being levelled at us.



My hope was short-lived.



Less than a week later, Ms Hanson-Young gave an interview to The Guardian regarding yesterday’s National Marriage day at Parliament House, organised by the Australian Family Association.



“[it was] disappointing that government members are bringing these extreme views to parliament. …. The passage of time will not be kind to these homophobic and outdated views. If Abbott government ministers are comfortable associating themselves with these views, they’ll have to explain that to the public.”



I was disappointed to see these comments, following her words and soft tone at the Senate hearings last week.



I’m tired of being called “extreme” and “homophobic” for arguing that a child has the right to her mother and father, something that would be abolished in culture and law if same-sex marriage was legislated.



By all means, engage our arguments. But please don’t try and bludgeon us into silence.



As Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews told the National Marriage Day dinner at the National Press Club last night, the same-sex marriage debate is quickly morphing into a debate about what can and cannot be said about marriage.



ends

MR: Senator Hanson-Young right to sue over photo-shopped image in Zoo Magazine

Posted on Blog · September 12, 2013 10:00 AM
MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Friday 13th September 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby supports Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s legal action again Zoo Magazine for objectifying her.



ACL spokeswoman Wendy Francis said the magazine demeaned the Senator and by extension all women who were seeking to make a serious contribution to public debate.



“Zoo magazine, obviously short of ideas and creativity, simply decided they could separate the senator’s head from her body and replace her body with that of a bikini model,” Ms Francis said.



“Who gains from this? Zoo magazine must think they do.



“Who loses? Well, apart from the obvious victim of disrespect, Ms Hanson-Young, every other Australian woman, old and young alike, who aspire to be taken seriously in their chosen profession.



“Not only did the cut-and-paste photographic job demean Ms Hanson-Young, it also demeaned one of the most important issues facing our country.”



The article, titled "ZOO's Asylum Seeker Bikini Plan" was published in July 2012, a week after the Senator addressed the Senate regarding Australia's humanitarian intake of asylum-seekers.



But NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum does not agree, saying yesterday at the hearing into the matter that she did not believe the photo made the senator look incompetent or immature.



Justice McCallum, however, granted Senator Hanson-Young leave to argue her case in front of a jury. The case will be heard at a later date.



“I’m sure the jury will have no trouble seeing what Zoo Magazine is doing for the status of women through this sort of activity,” Ms Francis said.

MR: Fourth gay marriage bill making a farce of Parliament

Posted on Blog · August 24, 2012 10:00 AM
MEDIA RELEASE



Friday, 24 August, 2012



The fourth same-sex marriage bill to be tabled is a farcical attempt by Green-Labor politicians to give false prominence to an issue they know doesn’t have Parliamentary support, according to the Australian Christian Lobby.



The bill follows an identical private member’s bill by Labor’s Stephen Jones, and similar bills by Adam Bandt and Andrew Wilkie in the lower house, and a further bill by Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in the Senate.



“The longer this drags on, the more farcical it becomes,” ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said today.



“What an insult to MPs that activist have loaded the Parliament with four bills, and that parliamentarians would become complicit in such an obvious waste of Parliamentary time.



“All this follows three Parliamentary inquiries in the past two years, none of which presented evidence of any discrimination against same-sex couples,” Mr Wallace said.



”Labor should think about the damage this is doing to their brand and put some distance between themselves and this shameful Greens-inspired activism,” Mr Wallace said.

Senator George Brandis defends marriage in the Senate

Posted on Blog · August 24, 2012 10:00 AM




 



With Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s marriage amendment bill being debated in the Senate last night, Queensland Senator George Brandis gave a speech defending the institution of marriage.



Senator Brandis spoke against amending the Marriage Act to redefine marriage, stressing the Coalition’s commitment going into the 2010 election to leave the Marriage Act unchanged.



 



Senator Brandis also spoke about the importance of respecting the rights of people who hold to a traditional understanding of marriage, criticising Senator Hanson-Young for “seeking to silence alternative views”. Calling for Senator Hanson-Young and others who are pushing for change to pay more respect to those who disagree, Senator Brandis said:

[traditional marriage] views reflect the entire understanding and the entire course of human history of what a marriage is.


See page 75 of Thursday’s Hansard to read Senator Brandis’ full speech.

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