Image: Andrew Barr and Penny Wong
Last week, Corey Irlam argued that there should be more , as only they would truly know how to represent and voice the needs of LGBTI聽constituents聽and citizens in the halls of power. However, heterosexual family man and state Liberal MP for Prahran 鈥斅爐he electorate with Victoria’s biggest LGBTI population 鈥�聽Clem Newton-Brown did not agree in his response. He argued that a local MP’s sexual orientation or gender diversity was second, and that the “.”听
In today’s opinion piece, ACT’s Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr has taken exception to Newton Brown’s swipe at South Australian Senator Penny Wong, where the Prahran MP wrote: “And one parting thought 鈥�聽being an LGBTI politician is no guarantee that LGBTI issues will be progressed any better. 聽Just look at Senator Penny Wong and her paralysis in achieving marriage equality when she and her government had the numbers to do it.”听
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PRAHRAN state Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown鈥檚 to cast doubt over Senator Penny Wong鈥檚 support for marriage equality was a cheap shot designed to gain political advantage in his vulnerable seat of Prahran, ahead of the forthcoming Victorian State Election.
Senator Wong is well loved and respected in our community and Newton-Brown鈥檚 cynical attack will not win him any friends. Penny is the greatest advocate for LGBTI Australians in national politics and her commitment to the fight for marriage equality, and a better future for us all, is absolutely beyond reproach.
Newton-Brown says he supports LGBTI equality but, as my friend and colleague Penny Wong would tell him, talk is cheap and actions speak much louder than words.
Unfortunately, when measured against his actions, Mr Newton-Brown is much less our friend than he would like us to believe.
One of his first acts in Victorian Parliament was to make it easier for religious organisations to discriminate against LGBTI Victorians 鈥� he voted for this not once, but three times.聽 Thanks to his crucial vote on floor of the finely-balanced Legislative Assembly, it is now easier for religious organisations to refuse LGBTI people services and sack LGBTI employees.
Does Mr Newton-Brown truly expect Victorians to believe that his repeated votes in favour of bigotry, intolerance and hatred against LGBTI people were the act of a friend?聽 I doubt the gay student expelled from his religious high school during the crucial moments of his Victorian Certificate of Education or the lesbian teacher fired from her job would think so.
The LGBTI community will not be taken for fools by MPs who cynically feign interest in our issues around election time. 聽This is as true in Canberra as it is in Prahran. Coming from a man who claims to take offence at others’ using LGBTI issues to , Mr Newton-Brown’s newfound interest in our community smacks of desperate聽election year stunt.
If he expects LGBTI Victorians to believe that he truly does support the community, then he must put his words into action.
A good start would be to publicly condemn Tony Abbott鈥檚 decision to deny Liberal MPs a conscience vote on marriage equality. Abbott鈥檚 stubborn refusal to grant a conscience vote is the single biggest obstacle to achieving same-sex marriage in Australia.聽 If Abbott allowed MPs like Malcolm Turnbull to vote according to their conscience, marriage equality might already be a reality.
He could also denounce the Napthine Liberal Government鈥檚 heartless changes to Victorian equal opportunity law.聽 The equal opportunity laws introduced by the previous Labor Government, but savagely rolled back by the Liberal Party, protected LGBTI Victorians from being discriminated against.
It鈥檚 time for Mr Newton-Brown to match Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews鈥� commitment to reinstate strong equal opportunity laws and restore dignity to LGBTI Victorians.
This is a very clear test 鈥� will he stand up for us or will he quietly tow the Liberal Party line?
As Mr Newton-Brown himself says, his seat of Prahran has the highest concentration of LGBTI voters in Victoria and politicians should always represent their constituents鈥� interests rather than their own.
If he can鈥檛 find the courage to do this, then the very least he can do is have the decency to apologise to Senator Wong for his unfair slur on her character. Failure to do so will send LGBTI voters a loud and clear message that Clem Newton-Brown and the Liberal Party don鈥檛 deserve their support in the future.
Great post but I was wanting to know if you could write a
litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit
more. Many thanks!
Look, I am no fan of Clem voting that a religious requirement, should be key to thousands of government funded jobs, and not ability. It is economic Vandalism, much like Brandis making the Human Rights Commissioner a performing money boy on 324k a year. I think if Clem wants to throw mud, he could start getting his Attorney General, Robert Clark, to say a big sorry. Mr Clark, told parliament, homosexuality is a sick disease, that our lifestyle is destructive, and we molester children more. Penny Wong is not perfect, but she has never committed the sort of ugly smearing of our community Robert Clark has.
Is this Anton Vucic the straight man who previously sought (unsuccessfully) preselection for the Liberal Party in Bruce?
If so, can the Liberal Party please not send party stooges to spam this thread? It should be a place for genuine discussion by members of our community and their supporters.
What a totally self-serving article by Andrew Barr, an ALP hack from Canberra. He has no idea about the great work that Clem has done for our community since his election in 2010. He is not an election-year wonder, as fallaciously asserted by Barr. How on earth would someone living in the Canberra-cocoon have a clue about what is happening in Clem’s seat. I am proud to have Clem represent my interests. Clem is right about Penny Wong. She let Gillard ensure that the gay marriage question failed. Wong did not have the courage of her convictions, and I can never regard her as my champion. The ALP time and again betrays our community, and she is no exception. It was Clem who last year led the crusade – which NSW is now following – to have Victorian criminal records for homosexual acts expunged. Barrs’ beloved ALP has run this state for long stints (’82-’92) and (’99 and’10) and never took the lead for our community. He should consider writing factual articles than rubbish from ALP headquarters. I am relieved that he is not my representative.
Clem Newton-Brown and the Liberal Party are an embarrassment. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but it seems his claims that he supports our community don’t stack up.
As a resident of Prahran, I know that Clem does and outstanding job representing his constituents on a wide range of issues.
The changes to the discrimination laws have been completely mischaracterised by the writer. You can’t simply sack someone for being gay and I suggest the writer knows this.
Clem is part of a broad team and fights for the interests of Prahran, including the LGTBI community.
While Penny Wong may be a strong supporter of LGTBI rights, it is right to question what all members have actually been able to achieve.
Short memories people. Check what the Star Observer was publishing a few years back: “Penny Wong a disgrace”
Now she’s a darling? What changed? Certainly not the Commonwealth Marriage Act.
Hi Barrie,
The headline was actually Penny Wong ‘a disgrace’- attributing a quote. That was one person’s view.
As i recall Miles it was a lot of people taking Penny Wong to task over what was perveived as her deliberate inaction over marriage.
There was even an episode of Q & A where former Senator Graham Richardson had to come to her defence.
Three more examples from this very publication:
By being a politician you must represent all your constituents not exclusively an interest group.
He correctly asserts that being a gay politician doesn’t guarantee getting results for the community.
Senator Wong is a good member, however, she is, like (most) other politicians bound by her party policies, though I believe she had the opportunity to push the agenda several times during the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd fiasco, and chose not to. Part political strategy, partly to conserve the energy for when the fight is likely to be won.
I don’t think that is a terrible accusation to make. I don’t think she would deny it.
Calm down, there a bigger issues. I wouldn’t want a straight person saying a gay person could represent them or provide professional services, suggesting the opposite is equally offensive.
A person should not be given Ecuador he or he is a male or female not should they be given a job because of their sexual orientation. By having a gay or lesbian politician fighting for marriage equality doesn’t mean it will be accepted. We NEED the non gay and lesbian MPs to believe and agree that marriage is for all and not only the straights. An example to show her incompetence and her selfishness, Penny Wong and her partner were lucky enough to have their own child, but what has she done to make sure all gay, not just lesbians, have the same right as themselves to be a gay parent? She has done nothing!
I’m always so surprised that attitudes like Newton-Brown’s still exist today. In years to come, this time will be looked back on as shameful, a time when not enough good people stood up for the rights of the oppressed in our society. Apologies are only a shallow way for those who meant what they said to back-track from it. The people of Prahran need to show him the door.
The fact is that Clem voted to strip us of anti-discrimination protections and he is a member of the Liberal Party – the party of Tony Abbott and Cory Bernardi – which has done more to oppose marriage equality than any other.
I hear Clem is refusing to say sorry to Senator Wong, but I think everybody would respect him more if he just did the right thing and apologised.
Another white straight privileged male arguing that the diversity in Australia does not need to be reflected in our representative structures.
He is as much of an advocate for the LGBTI community, as Abbott is a feminist. Like Abbott’s woeful record on women’s rights, clem’s bigot enabling parliamentary record speaks volumes for his sincerity to LGBTI people and their families.
The shamelessness of the latest ilk of conservative governments knows no bounds. They are willing on any point they believe to ‘create’ their own facts then campaign behind them as gossip. Even Howard wasn’t this righteous.
*gospel
Napthine Liberal Government… Gay mafia phone tree activate- kick these hateful self serving “politicians” out.
Worst. Government. Ever.
Time to apologise Clem, be a man and do the right thing.
This is a very disappointing performance by Clem Newton-Brown.
His votes to strip us of equal opportunity protections are an insult.
I’d be very interested to hear what he has to say for himself about this.
He must apologise to Penny.
To tell you the truth I like Penny Wong. But to pretend Penny couldn’t have done more for GLBTIQ rights as a South Australian Senator is very true.
South Australia has defunded it’s AIDS council and Senator Wong has been silent.
Senator Wong could have used her prestige to push the South Australian government to legislate to remove the gay panic defense but again Senator Wong has been silent.
The Victorian ALP has never preselected a GLBTIQ candidate in a winnable seat.
The Liberal Party had it’s first openly gay member of parliament back in 1999.
Yes Australia does have a problem in not electing GLBTIQ candidates. No GLBTIQ candidate has been elected to The House of Representatives.
No GLBTIQ candidates have been elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
As a Prahran resident and voter, let me clear when I say his actions and words do nothing for promoting the LGTBI communities rights and freedoms. He hides behind Facebook slogans and jargon and when confronted, merely deletes and blocks any attempt to discuss his rhetoric.
Nothing he says or does in the lead up to the State Election will diminish his political point-scoring article nor his poor track record for supporting our communities need for acceptance.
Are you going to say sorry Clem?
How dare he presume that he knows better than people who are actually LGBTI about fighting for our rights?
And why was it necessary to attack Penny?
I think the article is spot on – your vote against equality in the Parliament says all we need to know about his commitment to us.
Liberals going last on my ballot paper. This guy is no different to Tony Abbott.
Disgraceful.
Let’s hope Mr Newton-Brown at least has the integrity to apologise.
What on Earth was he thinking?
I have to agree that my heart was warmed whilst I read Clem’s article…only to turn cold in his last paragraph. He did the classic marketing line of building rapport with me as the reader, only to want me to turn against another person and say ‘but she didn’t stand up for you’.
He would have been much better off to stop a paragraph short. It was only because of this last paragraph that I decided to read this particular article, and indeed only because of that last paragraph that this article was even written. I don’t appreciate having my sexuality used as a political leverage tool. So close, yet so far away.