Push for hate crime education
Victorian Labor MLC Jaala Pulford has called on Attorney-General Robert Clark to promote awareness of Victoria鈥檚 anti-hate crime laws following a homophobic incident in Colac.
The Western Victoria MLC told Parliament she was saddened to hear comedian Joel Creasey and three others had been forced to run to their car to escape a group of young men hurling homophobic abuse at them as they left the launch of an anti-discrimination group in the regional town.
鈥淎ny attack of this nature on an individual is appalling,鈥� Pulford told Parliament. 鈥淲hat made this event so horrible was that Joel was targeted because he is gay.
鈥淚 call on the Attorney-General to require the Department of Justice to immediately initiate a program that, firstly, promotes awareness of Victoria鈥檚 anti-hate crime laws and the reasons for their existence; and secondly, promotes greater acceptance and tolerance of diversity in Colac through means such as the local media, schools, community and sporting groups and other organisations as deemed appropriate by the department.鈥�
Pulford, whose electorate takes in Colac, said she felt compelled to contact Creasey to 鈥渞eassure him鈥� his experience was 鈥渘ot typical of the attitude of the majority of people in Western Victoria鈥�.
Pulford said the behaviour of the youths, however, could not go without response from the Government.
Sentencing laws tightened under the Brumby Government require judges to factor in hatred or prejudice-motivation when sentencing offenders.
Anti-Violence Project (AVP) Victoria convenor Greg Adkins welcomed Pulford鈥檚 calls. 鈥淲e need leadership from Government to change society鈥檚 outdated and discriminatory values around sexuality and gender diversity,鈥� Adkins told the Star Observer.
鈥淭his is their responsibility and role to make sure every citizen in this state is protected and free of prejudice and hate in their everyday lives.鈥�
Adkins said the AVP intends to work with the Colac Otway Shire Council to promote a better understanding of the impacts of homophobia and transphobia.
鈥淚n rural and regional areas … gay people, lesbians, certainly transgender people are much less visible and that visibility is what helps people become more aware about sexual diversity and gender difference.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about providing a safe space for young people to come out in country areas but also to stay and live in their cities and country towns and not have to make that journey to capital cities to be who they are.鈥�
Adkins urged the Baillieu Government to release retired Supreme Court judge Geoff Eames鈥� review into the state鈥檚 crime laws to see if they stack up when dealing with hate-motivated crime.
A spokesman for the Attorney-General said current laws already send a strong message that prejudice and hate-motivated crimes are unacceptable.
鈥淚n 2009 the Parliament, with bipartisan support, passed legislation to make clear that such motivation is an aggravating factor that renders the offender liable to a higher penalty,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he law therefore already sends a strong message that such crimes are unacceptable; the challenge is to ensure perpetrators are caught and brought to justice.鈥�
Robert Clarke and the gay communities new found ‘Friend’ Robert Doyle have for years made sport of the gay community. As an arch catholic Clarke has now a ‘divine’ opportunity 2 bring his particular virulent strain of hate to bear and he did not waste any time in turning back equal opportunity laws that protected gay ppl from faith based organizations and ‘services?!’ I wouldn’t hold my breath about any support or legal remonstration over the Colac incident. Ppl like Clarke have nothing wot so eva 2 do with real Christianity and everything 2 do with punishment 4 ‘sinners.’ WE URGENTLY NEED A FEDERAL BILL OF RIGHTS AND FEDERAL ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION WITH NO SUNSET CLAUSES OR EXEMPTIONS.
robert clark should probably do a bit more research when it comes to sexuality and paedophilia. the last stats i saw showed that 85% of child molestations are carried out by males who identify as being heterosexual and 6% of child molestations are carried out by females who identify as being heterosexual. do the maths!
Asking the number one mongrel in the Liberal Party for morality is a hard ask.
Liberal Party Attorney-General Robert Clark has just stripped the GLBTI community in Victoria of many protections in the Equal Opportunity Act, and he previously told Parliament homosexuality is a sick disease. Recently his close mate Jeff Kennett speaking as an Ambassador for Beyond Blue, said employing a gayman is like employing a paedophile.
In 1995, Attorney-General said of homosexuality to parliament, 鈥淚 believe homosexual practices form a destructive way of life, destructive to the individual and destructive also to other individuals who are brought into that way of life. I suppose it is most readily demonstrable at a physical level; it is a physical fact that the human body is not designed for many homosexual practices and it is clear that physical problems follow from those practices.鈥� Mr Clark went on to quote a student medical text stating that homosexual male pedophiles commonly reported molesting hundreds of victims, while heterosexual pedophiles 鈥渕olest only a few鈥�. (Read more: ).
I don鈥檛 know how many hate crimes Robert Clarke has promoted, or the figures on people he has helped up onto a bridge. But the Liberal party in Victoria disgust me. Sure they can come up with money for mental health, as they think we have a disease, but these mongrels are a particular nasty bunch. They are not Liberal Greats like Fraser or Don Dunstan who were real Liberals, this current mob are an outright bloody mess.
The Victorian Liberal Party have a lot of responsibility for hate crimes, don鈥檛 they!