Page 2913 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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ACT government takes seriously the needs of people living with disability, and people can trust that we will continue to deliver real outcomes that improve the lives of our fellow Canberrans.
I commend this motion to the Assembly and join Ms Cody in calling for all party leaders in this Assembly to commit to a tripartisan statement in support of sex therapy and sex work under the NDIS.
Amendment agreed to.
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (3.26): I flag that I am putting forward an amendment to the motion, and I note comments from the opposition previously about common courtesy in circulating amendments. We are certainly getting there as we grapple with an issue that I do not believe has come up at least in this term of parliament. And while we do that, I add my voice to the minister’s earlier comments and what I expect will be forthcoming from Ms Cody. Firstly I congratulate Ms Cody for bringing this very important motion to the attention of the Assembly and to the broader community.
But I also join others in rebuking what I thought were quite stunning remarks from Ms Lawder, particularly the references that she made to Ms Cody’s motivations and indeed her character. I thought it was, frankly, quite insulting to suggest that Ms Cody was using this motion because sex sells—sex is a right; it is not about “Let’s make the newspaper”—and that Ms Cody was using people with disability to gain attention.
Ms Cody has not used anybody in this motion or in this debate. She has drawn attention to an incredibly important issue. Given the lecture that the opposition decided to give us earlier today about how they are actually experts in a range of things, because they listen to people, perhaps Ms Lawder can listen to her own side’s advice. There has been enormous support right across the community, right across Australia, including from peak advocates and from peak advocacy organisations in these spaces—from Sexual Heath and Family Planning ACT to Women with Disabilities Australia—who have come out publicly in support of this motion.
Perhaps if Ms Lawder had taken a little time to do her own research she would have seen that herself rather than lecture Ms Cody on the motion and describe it as not relevant to the ACT or to this Assembly. It absolutely is relevant to this place. I think that the community thinks it is incredibly relevant, and these advocates and these advocacy organisations also believe that it is absolutely relevant to them, as I am sure do people with disability. In this place we absolutely represent all Canberrans, including people with disability, and that is why it is very important to have brought this forward.
Madam Speaker, can you bear with me for a moment while I sign and date my amendment which has been discussed and, I think, agreed across the chamber. I pause for a second in my rebuking to note that we will be moving this amendment to make sure that things are clear and that we are not subjecting ourselves or anybody else to something that we would prefer not to.
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