31 May 2023
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:33): I want to speak very briefly against the motion. In so doing, I reinforce the comments made by my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks that this motion is wrong because it is based on false assumptions being made about sex that do not have an evidentiary base. I also find this motion to be wrong in terms of its political focus. It is part of a transphobic and intersexphobic campaign that the One Nation Party has been running at a national level. They are now importing it into South Australia, and I think we should not be having resolutions like this that are about dividing the community taking up our time here in this chamber.
I noted a number of members of the Liberal opposition stood up and spoke on this motion and all remarked that it should not be a priority for the parliament. If that is the case, I am not sure why they have all seen the need to stand up and comment on it, particularly when one considers that, in the context of a 14-hour debate last night on anti-protesting laws, there was a five-minute contribution from the opposition on the issue.
Next week, we are going to be dealing with residential tenancies. If they are serious about the cost-of-living crisis, I hope they all engage on that debate. I do not want to see this sort of divisive stuff being dealt with in our parliament. I wanted to speak because I am an out and proud gay man. I am a member of the LGBTI community, and I see this sort of stuff as being an extension of the homophobia that has been directed to people like me in the past. So I am very much against it, and I really want to call it out for what it is.