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The ACT’s rainbow vote

Holly Hazlewood asks the ACT Labor leader Andrew Barr what the queer community should expect if they win.

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ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has taken aim at the Liberal’s lack of solid commitment to the Canberra queer community in the lead up to this year’s state election. Responding to Canberra Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee’s comments that her party will work with all sectors of the community, Minister Barr said the vague commitment does not go far enough. 

“The Canberra Liberals are a conservative party, the majority of whom voted against progressive social reforms like strengthening abortion rights and voluntary assisted dying in recent months,” Minister Barr said. 

“ACT Labor has a proven track record of implementing nation leading policy reforms to protect the LGBTIQA+ community like protecting students and teachers from discrimination in our schools, banning conversion practices and protecting the rights and bodily integrity of people born with variations in sex characteristics.”

A continued Labor government in the nation’s capital will also continue to uphold the Rainbow Roundabout as a beacon of marriage equality and will forward its work of continuing to recognise the intersex community, with Minister Barr saying his party will work in partnership with IHRA and community stakeholders to promote awareness and protect the rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics.

The intersex community has been in the spotlight in recent months after they were again excluded from the 2024 census after the federal government backflipped over questions on gender identity and sexuality. However, Minister Barr said he will not stop campaigning for the inclusion of all members of the queer community in the national data. 

ACT Labor supports including the entire LGBTIQA+ community in the census – including questions on variations in sex characteristics,” he said. “Capturing this data will help support better policy development and service delivery by governments. We welcome the inclusion of questions relating to sexuality and gender in the census and will also continue to progress our own community survey to capture data on these communities as well as those born with variations in sex characteristics.”

Minister Barr said his government, if re-elected, will continue to attempt to ease the cost of living crunch felt across the queer and wider communities. 

Cost-of-living pressures are being felt across the country. This year’s budget continues to support Canberrans who are most impacted with targeted cost of living support,” he said. “Through the initiatives the government has put in place over a number of years, we’re helping tens of thousands of Canberrans with their everyday costs. This also includes free health services through our walk-in centres, energy rebates and fee-free TAFE places.”

The ACT election takes place on Saturday 19 October.