In the last week of Parliament Robert and Mark continued to advocate for underrepresented members of the community, honour those who contribute to our society, and fight bad legislation designed purely to placate miniscule fringe groups whose goals are to tear apart the foundations of our communities.
Robert
Robert began the week honouring Mr Christopher Pratten OAM, a highly respected historian, researcher and author who pursued the conservation of natural and built heritage areas as a grazier, educator, and administrator. Robert paid tribute to the significant lifelong contribution Mr Pratten made to the preservation and conservation of the cultural and historical environment of New South Wales and as Mr Pratten did not shy away from controversy, he saved many important sites and historical buildings, something for which all citizens of New South Wales are in his debt.
In a Notice of Motion Robert also called for the "No Body, No Parole" laws in the Crimes Administrations and Sentences Act, 1999, passed in 2022, to be recognised as "Lyn's Law" in memory of Lynette Sims, a Sydney wife and mother of 2 who was murdered by her husband and who's body was never found.
Robert closed the week with a Question Without Notice about reopening Goulburn Rifle Range to centrefire rifle shooting. It has been restricted for 5 and a half years while NSW Firearms Registry evaded giving specific instructions on requirements for lifting the restrictions.
In the community, Robert contributed to Sydney Morning Herald reporter Chris Barrett's article, "Troy wants to shoot for Australia, but police told him he's a risk to the public," an expose on the overt and disgusting discrimination by the NSW Firearms Registry against visually impaired target shooters in the year of the Paris Paralympics.
Mark
While navigating through an era of equal recognition, anti-discrimination, positive affirmation and change, Mark noticed that there was a glaring omission in the current legislation which fails to protect over 90% of the community in New South Wales. Introducing our Anti‑Discrimination Amendment (Heterosexual Discrimination) Bill 2024.
The purpose of this bill is to draw a line and say that discrimination against a person on the grounds of heterosexuality would be unlawful; that heterosexual vilification, by certain public acts, becomes illegal; and prescribe that certain work and other arrangements in which discrimination against a person on the ground of the person's heterosexuality is not tolerated. While the Act rightly protects individuals from discrimination based on attributes such as disability, race, Aboriginality, sexual orientation, and gender status, it does nothing to uphold the rights of the heterosexuals of New South Wales. Will some see this as a stunt? of course but combined with my colleague's motion on men and socio-economic indicators, it highlights a real issue. You can view a copy of the draft legislation below or watch Mark's introductory speech.
Draft Legislation
Speech Post
Pressing pause on our heterosexual bill for the moment (there will be more to say in the future), Mark met with key representatives from the forestry industry to discuss the challenges that they face daily. It's no secret that SFF wholeheartedly supports native timber forestry, softwood plantations and everything in between, but the industry is constantly under attack from environmental activists and left-wing policies. It quickly became apparent that the minister's department had been sitting on a supply agreement for red gum since 2019 and it hadn't gone anywhere, so Mark went straight to the minister the following day. You can watch the video here and see a photo of Mark and Robert with industry reps attached.
The end of the sitting week saw the Conversion Practices Ban 2024 reach the NSW Parliament. This bill, pushed through as the last on the list, on the last sitting day, saw upper house members sitting all night from 10 am Thursday through until 6.00 am Friday. This had to be one of the more contentious bills in recent times. Our office became a revolving door for religious denominations, women's groups, as well as many, many others including gay and lesbian advocates who had come to us with deep concerns about the effects that the passing of this legislation might have. Mark attempted to move many amendments in vain, which included protecting people under the age of 18 from damaging gender reassignment procedures, but the government knowing they had support from The Greens, AJP, and Liberal and National parties from the start, refused to accept any of our amendments. The bill passed with only four recorded 'noes' in the upper house, SFF along with two others, many Liberal Party and National Party members ran from the House thus avoiding casting a vote in favour or against. It was clear that the opposition Coalition parties were split on this bill and let their supporters down badly with this stunt.
