During the 2012 election campaign, LNP leader Campbell Newman said the party would not change the new surrogacy laws if it won the government. After the party came to government in 2012, Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie announced in Parliament that the LNP would amend Queensland`s surrogacy legislation to ban same-sex couples, singles and de facto heterosexual couples for less than two years. [95] Bleijie claimed that Newman was not “fully informed” of the LNP`s political program. [145] Newman later stated that his election promise was a “mistake” given the previous concerns of the PSL members and that he listened to the majority of his party members. [146] [147] Subsequently, moderate members of the LNP had expressed concerns about the proposal to abolish surrogacy rights, and it was tacitly set aside, with Bleijie`s announcement described by one colleague as “brain liquor.” [148] The Queensland Law Society (QLS) supports your statutory rights by ensuring that legislation protects, not interferes, the welfare and interests of the wider community. We review legislative proposals to address issues related to new regulations, inconsistencies with applicable laws, or serious, mostly unintended, consequences for the privacy and commercial interests of individuals. QLS has successfully lobbied the Queensland Government on a number of issues, resulting in legislation that can be applied in practice and is fair and beneficial to the community. This proposal was a problem in the 1989 elections. National Party leader Russell Cooper, whose party has been heavily implicated in corruption in the wake of the Fitzgerald inquiry, has sought to mobilize socially conservative support by using his party`s opposition to legalizing homosexual conduct. During the election campaign, he claimed that his party`s corruption was a “secondary issue” to moral issues such as abortion and homosexuality, adding that the decriminalisation policies of the opposition Labour Party at the time would send a “flood of homosexuals across the border from the southern states”. [24] As a result, Cooper was ridiculed in Labour ads as a wild-eyed reactionary, a Bjelke-Petersen clone and/or puppet of the Nationals` chairman, Sir Robert Sparkes.
[25] Cooper`s party lost the election to the Labour Party. Although the Act does not incorporate international law into our Queensland law, it makes it clear that courts may take international law into account when interpreting human rights. Review your legal requirements regularly, as they may change if your business expands or changes the way it operates, or if changes are made to legislation. The first major public demonstration in support of decriminalisation took place on 31 August 1989, when several hundred people demonstrated in front of the Parliament building in Brisbane. [1] [22] The protests took place after five Roma men were charged with various anti-homosexuality offences. At that time, the maximum sentence for “sodomy” was seven years in prison. [22] Opinion polls published by The Bulletin during this period suggested that while a majority of Queenslanders do not support equality for homosexuals, they believe that private homosexual conduct between consenting adults should be decriminalized. [1] Prior to legalization, approximately 460 men were convicted under the law, with police making arrests as late as 1989. [14] The Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) (Human Rights Act) aims to recognise, protect and promote the equal rights and worth of all Queenslanders. It recognizes that human rights are inseparable from each person and places these rights at the heart of State decision-making, judicial and legislative. Every government department and agency has a grievance procedure to deal with human rights issues.
The law obliges the government to take human rights into account in all decisions and actions and to restrict human rights only in certain circumstances and after careful consideration. LGBT rights are politically polarised – the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party supported the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships and protection from discrimination as early as 1981 and introduced various legislative reforms when they were in power, while the socially conservative Queensland National National Party and its predecessor, the National Party, have traditionally been more hostile. [9] Queensland has always been the most conservative state in Australia, particularly in the devolved areas north and west of the southeast corner of the metropolis,[10] but the influence of social conservatism on Queensland policies and laws has gradually diminished. [11] The highest proportion of same-sex couples in Queensland is concentrated in Brisbane`s inner suburbs, the top three being New Farm, Fortitude Valley and Tenerife. [12] Prior to 2016, same-sex couples in Queensland had limited recognition under the Queensland Education Act. They could not legally adopt a child, but were allowed to act as foster parents. [115] People are free to say what they think and what they want to say. You have the right to find, receive and exchange information and ideas. In general, this right may be limited to respect for the rights and reputations of others or the protection of public order and safety. Queensland Community Legal Centres hosted a human rights training day in March 2019, presented by Human Rights Adviser Ben Schokman. The training was aimed at front-line staff and focused on how new laws can be used as an advocacy tool for clients and communities.
Information and references to sources contained in the session can be found below, as well as other resources on human rights. Your statutory rights are common law rights as provided by local, state, and federal laws. Various legal requirements that protect your business and customers may apply, but they can also offer other benefits – for example, an accurate record is a requirement under tax laws and helps you minimize losses and manage your cash flow. The law primarily protects civil and political rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also protects two rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (rights to education and health services) and one right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (property rights).