Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill passed the NSW Parliament’s lower house 50 votes to 30 on Wednesday night after a heated debate, with attention now turning to whether it will pass the upper house.
The watered-down legislation was finally introduced to parliament on Wednesday after more than a year of negotiations and an inquiry, following the Minns government’s decision to set aside its own legislative agenda to prioritise the bill’s debate.
"I completely acknowledge that it's not everything that the member for Sydney [Greenwich] has asked for, but in my view, and the government's view, this is a bill whose time has come," NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns told parliament.
"I urge members of parliament to support the member for Sydney's Equality Bill. I think it's important, I think it's important for New South Wales."
Greenwich said it was a good day for the LGBTQ+ community and thanked the government for working with him on the reforms.
"In this bill are more LGBTQ reforms than have ever passed in one single piece of legislation," he said.
"We are achieving significant progress for the safety and dignity of the LGBTQI+ community through the Equality Bill.”
Greenwich acknowledged that more reforms were still needed, but plans for those were already under way.
"We have pathways to achieve those reforms," he said.
Key among future reforms are protections for LGBTQIA+ school staff and students, which Greenwich said would be addressed next year following the NSW Law Reform Commission’s review of the state's Anti-Discrimination Act.
Greenwich removed those reforms from the Equality Bill after reaching a compromise with Labor to ensure the bill's passage through parliament.
His amended Equality Bill will bring NSW in line with the rest of the country by allowing the trans community to change their birth certificates without undergoing gender-affirming surgery.
It will also allow families with children born via overseas surrogacy to obtain parentage orders, recognise non-binary as a registered sex descriptor, and introduce enhanced hate crime protections.
Sex workers will also be legally permitted to use their earnings to support others, and threats to expose someone’s history of sex work will be classified as an offence, alongside numerous other reforms.
"NSW will also likely become the first state to make threats to ‘out’ someone an offence," said Greenwich.
Despite the bill being introduced more than a year ago, the opposition complained that the legislation’s passage was being rushed.
"There's been no courtesy given to us in regards to these amendments," said NSW shadow attorney-general Alister Henskens.
"The opposition will be opposing the Equality Bill. We have a number of concerns about the bill.”
Greenwich challenged the opposition’s rationale for opposing the bill.
"At no point has the shadow attorney-general come to me with any questions, any amendments, any concerns," said Greenwich.
Liberal MPs were denied a conscience vote on the legislation. Despite this, North Shore Liberal MP Felicity Wilson crossed the floor in support of the bill.
According toThe Sydney Morning Herald, Wilson told the party room on Tuesday night that her constituents would expect her to support the bill.
"Just because your party doesn't have a conscience vote doesn't mean you don't have a conscience," Wilson told ABC Radio Sydney.
Greenwich welcomed the support from Wilson but said the party denying a conscience vote was worrying.
"This will be a new precedent for the Coalition. No other leader has denied their members a conscience vote on LBGT issues," he said.
The bill will face its next test in the upper house on Wednesday, where it is unclear if further amendments will be proposed to secure its passage.
It is expected to face an uphill battle, with Labor holding 15 of the 42 seats, the Liberals and Nationals holding 14, and the crossbenchers holding 13. A majority of votes are required for the bill to pass.
Eliot Hastie is a senior news producer at Channel Ten, reporting on a range of general stories, specialising in foreign affairs and LGBTQ+ stories. He’s also a reporter for Gay Sydney News, where he covers LGBTQIA+ culture, politics and nightlife. He previously helped to build and launch ausbiz, Australia's only live streaming finance news channel, where he was also an executive producer and host. He has previously worked as a finance and business journalist for publications including Fintech Business, Real Estate Business and other Momentum Media titles. Eliot holds a journalism degree from the University of Westminster and brings experience in both broadcast and digital reporting. Contact Eliot: [email protected]
