That was an extraordinary contribution from the member for Monbulk. Thank you so much for that impassioned speech. I am not quite sure how to follow it, but I do want to rise and strongly support the motion that was put by the Minister for Health regarding the appalling petition sponsored and promoted by the Liberal Party in the other place, a petition that directly targets LGBTIQA+ Victorians and calls for the cessation of the rainbow libraries toolkit.
Let us be absolutely clear: this petition is not just an attack on a toolkit; it is an attack on inclusion, it is an attack on public library staff who are just doing their jobs and, most importantly, it is an attack on some of the most marginalised people in our community – LGBTIQA+ people and their families, who simply want to have a safe place to go and be seen and be valued in a public space. Public libraries are amongst our most cherished institutions – vibrant community hubs that provide universal access to information, a place for social connection, learning and cultural expression. They are at their very best when they reflect the diversity of the communities that they serve. I cannot believe I have to explain this, but the rainbow libraries toolkit is a simple, low-cost internal resource, developed by Public Libraries Victoria with support from the Allan Labor government and in consultation with LGBTIQA+ experts like Switchboard Victoria – shout-out to them for the amazing work that they do – to help library staff create more welcoming, inclusive environments for everyone.
Let me be crystal clear: this toolkit is not a program imposed on the public. It is a resource for staff. It is based on academic research, lived experience and community consultation. It is a guide for making libraries safer for people – people who are too often the targets of hate, harassment and exclusion. I am so, so sick of seeing segments of our society scapegoated and targeted for political gain. The targeting of this toolkit by the opposition, and the decision of the Shadow Minister for Equality to stand by while it is dragged through the mud, is disgraceful. It flies in the face of everything the role of a leader representing equality should stand for. What a contrast to our government, the Allan Labor government, and our proud record of backing in our diverse rainbow communities with real investment, strong policy and unwavering support. We were the first in the country to appoint a Minister for Equality, we were the first to establish a commissioner for LGBTIQA+ communities and we have continued to invest in our public libraries to make them more inclusive and accessible, including by allocating over $53 million to public library services in this year’s budget.
We understand the role public libraries play in fostering connectedness and belonging, especially for young people and diverse people, who still face disproportionate rates of discrimination, exclusion and poor mental health. The research is really clear on this: safe spaces and community connection are protective factors; they save lives. I remember when the school library meant a really great deal to me, when I was feeling the overwhelm of the emotional rough-and-tumble of the schoolyard, and it was a safe place to retreat to to recalibrate and to feel calm and unbothered. It was also a place to learn and to discover and to expand my mind and my heart. I loved the library. I still do. The notion, indeed the reality, that bigots can come into these places and disrupt these sacred spaces should send chills up all of our spines. I think it does on this side of the house.
When those opposite stand up and parrot misinformation, when they use parliamentary process to push intolerance, when they demonise a toolkit designed to help public library staff do their job with compassion and when they target people who are just trying to have a good time, with joy and with support for each other, they are not just out of touch – they are actively harmful. We are charged with being leaders in this place and in our communities, and that does not mean stoking division. It does not mean igniting hate and setting neighbour against neighbour. My community in Northcote has one of the highest proportions of LGBTIQA+ Victorians, and for us, equality is not a slogan. It is embedded in our values, in our families, in our schools, in our workplaces and in our daily life – the daily life of our vibrant community and our local neighbourhoods.
If you come to the inner north, you will see Pride flags flying on balconies, you will see them in shopfronts and you will see the inclusive language that we teach to our kids in our schools – it is the simple acts of kindness and respect that define how we treat each other.
Just a few months ago I had the opportunity to join the Queer Sporting Alliance for a fantastic and colourful day of basketball, netball and roller derby and market stalls and a brass band performance. It was the Queer Sporting Alliance national sports tournament at the Narrandjeri Stadium in Thornbury – the largest LGBTIQA+ sports tournament in Australia – and it was all about connection and inclusion and having fun through sport. It was such a delight to be there representing the Victorian government, who helped to fund it, alongside Darebin’s now Labor mayor and to support this fantastic event in the heart of our community. The sense of affirmation and camaraderie and sheer joy at coming together in celebration and unity for this beautiful, diverse community – it was elating. That event was emblematic of the overwhelming sentiments within our community, a community where equality is not negotiable.
But having such a strong and visible rainbow community also means many of us know what it feels like to carry the weight of inequality and discrimination. Many in my community have felt the fear of being their authentic selves in public, the exhaustion that comes with constantly having to explain and justify and sometimes hide or defend who you are. That corrosive weight of bigotry, of exclusion – it is not easy to live with. It lingers. It marks people, and it sends a very dangerous message to young people in particular.
I commend the work being done in our public school system to support Safe Schools and Respectful Relationships, to foster values which have us see each other first and foremost as humans. We want every person in Victoria to feel safe, accepted and welcome. That is why inclusion matters. That is why resources like the rainbow libraries toolkit matter, because they are small but powerful ways of saying to someone who might be struggling, ‘You belong here. This place is for you. This place respects you. This place sees you.’ When you undermine that message, when you politicise it, when you attack the very tools designed to create safety and inclusion, you do not just take aim at policy, you take aim at people – real people with real lives and real vulnerabilities.
That is why my community and this Labor government will not stand by while this kind of harm is being platformed in our Parliament. We have seen what happens when that kind of thinking digs in and embeds, when books are taken off bookshelves, when educators are silenced, when rainbow families are erased from curriculums, when difference becomes an opportunity for division, all in the name of protecting children when in fact it does the exact opposite. We have seen how quickly inclusion can be replaced by censorship, how quickly hard-won gains in our rights can be rolled back and how difference, something to be embraced and celebrated, can be weaponised to sow division and distrust. We have seen the consequences of that: increased isolation, rising rates of anxiety and self-harm in young people.
That is not hypothetical; that is the lived experience of communities in places where this kind of rhetoric has been entrenched. We cannot and must not allow that to happen here in Victoria. Our state has worked really hard to make this a place where people can live openly and authentically, where equality is not just a principle but a practice. I want to thank every single member on this side of the house that has stood up to defend that.
