Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (20:41): I share the views of the member for Narre Warren South that it is so important that we do this but it is easy. We are not compromised in any way because this is who we are and what we believe in. That is why I am happy to contribute to the motion moved by the manager of government business that this house condemns the Shadow Minister for Equality for allowing his shadow colleagues to sponsor a petition attacking LGBTIQ+ people and calling for the cessation of the rainbow libraries toolkit.

What a line-up of incredible humans we have in the Labor caucus. We are just a wonderful group of people, so I really want to thank and commend the Minister for Health, the Minister for Equality, the Minister for Local Government and the members for Hastings, Eureka, Albert Park, Preston, Werribee, Hastings and Bass. I love our caucus. How good are we? Sorry, I forgot the member for Kororoit. What an exceptional group of people we are, from different backgrounds, all bringing a unique perspective to this. I think that our being here is about showing our values, who we are and what is important to us. I really look forward to the other contributions, because this stuff matters. I will talk about why it does matter, but it matters so much.

I am really proud to be a rainbow ally in my community of Ballarat. I support LGBTI+, trans and gender-diverse people in my electorate, as well as across Ballarat, across our state and across our nation. I do so because I support inclusive communities. I do so because I support public libraries and our librarians for the work that they do to build social cohesion. I want lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender-diverse, intersex, queer and asexual Victorians to be free to live the lives they want to live and to love who they want to love. I want parents to feel supported, and I always stand with our rainbow families. Being a schoolteacher and seeing kids struggle with gender identity and with who they are, I know it is so much easier for the kids who have parents who are supportive. For the parents who struggle, it is so hard for them as well. This is what this motion is about. This is what these toolkits are about. It is about making everyone’s life easier. That is what we do.

I will not tolerate homophobia and I will not tolerate transphobia. I love going to ChillOut. I am so proud to be there with Rainbow Labor. For those who do not know, ChillOut is in Daylesford and it is for regional Victorians. It is harder to be LGBTIQ+ in regional Victoria. It is tough in Melbourne, but it is tougher in regional Victoria, but we are changing that, and that is what ChillOut does. When you walk with the federal member for Ballarat Catherine King and you walk with the member for Macedon, who brought on this motion, and you walk with the Minister for Equality, people are so proud to see Labor there. Not only do we turn up at the ChillOut festival but we turn up every day. The community knows that we do this, and they cheer for us because they know we are on their side. Everyone in this chamber, bar one, is on their side, I would say. This is what we keep doing. I am proud that Victoria leads the nation in fostering inclusive communities where everyone can live safely.

We heard the member for Hastings talk about safety – a man murdered because of who he was. It is just devastating, such a devastating story, and the ripple effect of that on all his friends many decades later and the impact that it still has on the member for Hastings is profound. But this is what we do. We are stopping those types of incidents. We are stopping those hate crimes by standing up. By standing up in our libraries, by standing up in our parliaments and by standing up in our schools – and it is great to have the Minister for Education here as well – we are saying to the community that we will stop these hate crimes and we will not allow them to happen on our watch.

Locally we are doing really great things in Ballarat. One of the most important initiatives is that we have got QHub in my electorate of Wendouree. QHub is the most beautiful space. It is a Labor government funded initiative. It is about youth mental health and social connection programs, delivered in partnership with Drummond Street Services, Queerspace, Wellways and CAFS Ballarat. QHub is a safe space in Ballarat for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse, intersex, queer and asexual people and, importantly, their families to get support and find connection. It is transforming and saving lives. It was co-designed with communities. Ballarat QHub is a safe, affirming and inclusive space for youth aged up to 25, providing access to crucial mental health support, social connection opportunities and wellbeing activities. I give a shout-out to everyone who works at QHub. You are just the best.

I am really proud that Mike and I have raised our children in our family to respect everyone for who they are. And they do – they call out homophobia and they call out transphobia. Jo was telling me when she came home from school the other day that she was walking out of school and another girl was making fun of someone who had he/him pronouns. Johanna just called it out; she did not let it pass. She said, ‘No, it’s he/him, right?’ And they were like, ‘But we go to an all-girls school.’ ‘No, we go to a school with lots of different people in it.’ The conversation is changing, and it is really, really great. I have conversations with my children that I never had with my parents, and I am sure a lot of us can talk about that. I am so proud when my girls sit down with my mum, and Mum will say something and the girls will say, ‘No, Grandma, you’re not allowed to say things like that. Grandma, what do you think you’re doing?’ They are so good; they do not want anyone to feel excluded or not able to be who they are. I am immensely proud of them for making their school safer. I know there are a whole lot of people who have important younger people in their lives, and I am sure they are doing really good things as well. So thank you to everyone who is raising the next generation of inclusive and open-minded people.

But these open-minded people are not everywhere, sadly. It really upsets me that two members of my Western Victoria Region are Bev McArthur and Joe McCracken – two people who do not speak for me. They do not speak for my kids, they do not speak for their friends and they do not speak for who we are in Ballarat. I reject their views, I oppose their bigotry and I oppose their attacks on my community members. What is it about the rainbow toolkit that causes so much offence to Bev McArthur in the other place? Well, according to the Premier’s media release titled ‘Rainbow libraries toolkit launches on Wear It Purple Day’ on Friday 30 August 2024:

The toolkit was established in response to a need for better information and training to support public library staff welcoming LGBTIQA+ families into public libraries, following a rise in the vilification of LGBTIQA+ communities and targeting of LGBTIQA+ inclusive events, including drag story time events for rainbow young people held at libraries.

The media release goes on to say:

The Allan Labor Government allocated $14,020 through the Public Libraries Funding Program 2023–2024 to develop the toolkit in consultation with Switchboard Victoria –

and a shout-out to Switchboard Victoria and the great work that they do. To be clear, one of my upper house members for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, has called on the government to cease the rollout of the rainbow libraries toolkit, a toolkit that is about providing better information and making people feel welcome in a public space. That is what outrages her – better information and something that will make people feel more welcome. Mrs McArthur does this, and I quote her petition, because:

Parents should not have to worry that a visit to the library could confuse or indoctrinate their children.

I could not disagree more. The toolkit does not need to be feared, but words of hate do need to be feared. Words matter. The words of President Trump matter. The words of Peter Dutton matter, and the words of people in this place matter. But do not just take my word for it. The member for Eureka referred to it earlier, but we got a letter from Ange Elson, the chief executive officer of Tiny Pride in Ballarat, earlier this week. I do not have time to share much, but what she says in the very first line is:

The past six months have been gruelling for the LGBTIQA+ community and the people that love us here in Ballarat. It’s fair to say that this stems from a feeling of watching our rights come under unprecedented attack.

It is a disgrace, Bev McArthur.

You can take a look at more of my contributions to Parliament here.