Election a mixed bag
Victoria now has a Coalition government with a swing against the Brumby Government of more than 6 percent against it across the state.
Prahran MP Tony Lupton 鈥� a well known supporter of the GLBTI community 鈥� was among the casualties, losing his seat to聽 Liberal Clem Newton-Brown.
Newton-Brown, who is personally in favour of same-sex marriage and marched in Victoria鈥檚 annual Pride March in St Kilda, won the seat with 54.8 percent of the primary vote compared to 45.2 percent for Lupton.
Sitting Labor MPs Richard Wynne and Bronwyn Pike held their seats of Richmond and Melbourne respectively, with Liberal preferences pushing Greens candidates Brian Walters and Kathleen Maltzahn out of contention.
Walters had promised, if elected, to introduce a same-sex marriage bill in the Victorian parliament.
Before the election the Coalition promised they would invest $4 million in mental health and suicide initiatives to target GLBT young people and an additional $200,000 research grant to study the effects of accelerated aging in people living with HIV.
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby convenor Sarah Rogan said although the $4 million promise for GLBT youth suicide was welcome, there was concern adoption reform for rainbow families in Victoria may not eventuate.
鈥淏aillieu has said he doesn鈥檛 support same-sex adoption and [John] Brumby said he did support a review, so that鈥檚 definitely been pushed back quite a long way and will be difficult to get traction,鈥� Rogan said.
It鈥檚 thought the Coalition has made solid gains in the Upper House, with counting still going on.
There has been speculation the conservative Country Alliance party may be an outside chance to gain a seat and could potentiallyhold the balance of power.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a disappointing result for the GLBTI community with [a conservative] balance of power,鈥� Rogan said.
鈥淏ut we鈥檝e worked against the odds before and we will continue to unabated.鈥�
Rogan said $400,000 funding promised by Labor for a GLBTI advocacy group, funding for anti-violence projects and anti-homophobia campaigns, and a Coalition pledge to increase the Victoria Police鈥檚 random search powers as a potential losses for the community.
She also raised concerns about past Coalition opposition to amending exemptions in the state鈥檚 Equal Opportunity legislation.
Coalition Leader Ted Baillieu opposes same-sex marriage, however is supportive of Victoria鈥檚 Relationship鈥檚 Register for same-sex couples.
I agree Pual Mitchell!
Make sure as you go to the ballot box you please please vote 1 Green, then 2 Independent, 3 sex party, 4 Labor, 5 Liberal and then 6 CDP (Fred Nile Group) at the NSW March election in 2011.
I know once the Liberals win the election they will repeal all the progress on gay rights (such as adoption, IVF, surrogacy and relationship register) that we have made here in NSW!!!!!
Labour did little for us but we now enter a new dark age!
There is a real lesson here in NSW.
The Liberals are on track to win in 4 months – and the state’s new law maker will be the Far Right’s Greg Smith, with a very unpleasant brand of “Christianity”.
He opposed Keneally’s reforms to same-sex adoption, surrogacy and partnership registers.
Watch as he rolls them all back. Get ready to fight!