Well, we made it to the end of the parliamentary year, everyone.
It has been quite the year. Mostly because it has been an absolute debacle. But we made it. Citizenship may have dominated this parliamentary year but we finished on a high note. And, for that, for finally passing marriage equality, 2017 just proved its worth.
A big thank you to everyone who followed along today, and to everyone who has followed along since I picked up this glorious beast 10 weeks ago.
A special thank you to Mike Bowers and the Guardian Australia parliament house team, Gareth Hutchens, Paul Karp and Katharine Murphy and all those behind the scenes who tidy up after me and generally keep me sane.
Today has been an emotional day. And while I would usually do a bigger wrap for the end of parliamentary year, I think it is probably best if we just let this stand alone today.
It has been such a terrible path for so many to walk, to get to this place. So many disappointments, so much hatred, so many hurts. There are so many who didn’t live to see this day. And, for them, my heart breaks.
This vote doesn’t fix all of that. It doesn’t fix the decades of discrimination, or the taunts, or the feeling of otherness that so many in the LGBTIQ community have been subjected to. So while we may feel jubilation and should celebrate, we should also remember what it took to get here, what we lost and how we can move forward from today trying to do better.
The parliament has adjourned as I type this. We’ll be back in February. What will next year bring?
I hope, for you, your families and all those this parliament represents, it is something better.
Happy and merry everything. I’ll catch you in the new year.
I am incredibly proud today it to be part of the Australian parliament and to have, to have been part of delivering marriage equality in this nation. I have been an out MP in this country since 2001 and we have had many struggles inside Labor party.
There is my girlfriend, come over here, come here, honey.
I could not be prouder today. We have had to campaign for all of our life, for all of our rights in our relationship and finally that task is complete and we could not be happier, and I just want to say thank you to all of my comrades in the Labor party, particularly Rainbow Labor, who have given their heart and soul to make this happen. Absolutely. Thank you, Australia.
And they fall out of shot hugging. It’s a wonderful image to end the press conference on.
In the course of all those years, I met many couples were no longer with us and who would say to me, they were grabbing by the arm and they would say please make this happen before it is too late. But, for them, it is too late.
This day is for them. We heard the word gift used and, for me, this reform is a gift that we’re all here give to the next generation, a gift of the quality and inclusion, for them to build a better Australia from.
Like the other people who have spoken today, today really is a momentous day for Australia and today I am proud to call myself an Australian, as much as I have any other day of my life.
I realise what this means for young LGBTQI people, right across the country, for them to know that the person that they love, the way that they feel, is equal to that of anyone else and the change that that will mean for future generations is significant.
So I would like to thank the parliament today, I would like to thank both sides of politics for really getting on with the day and doing what they said they would do. I am surprised, frankly.
But it was amazing to see and it shows what can happen here, and that is what I am pleased to know, but I am really also very thankful for our straight brothers and sisters, who quite literally, without them and their voting for us, this would never have happened.
And it means that we have created an Australia that is more equitable, more fair and more just, and it is the kind of place that more Australians want to see, so thank you everyone for what they have contributed to this and we got it done.
When I watched all of those people move to the yes side of the House, I thought Canberra was going to tip over. And for someone who grew up feeling on the brink of suicide, seriously, as so many of us have because we have felt unwanted, unliked, we fell below, to feel so loved now and to see that Parliament nearly tip over in support for us was an amazing feeling. And it was the people of Australia and all of us, I am sure, feel incredibly indebted and grateful to you that, when it was put to you, you had our backs. Thank you forever for that. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Today, this is a strong message to every kid that is questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, that you do not need to be afraid, that when you look to the nation’s parliament, to our sporting heroes, and to the values that underpin this country, that you can be what you see. You see a country that is forward-looking, modern and embracing the idea that everybody has a place at our nation’s table.
Terri Butler:
I am proud today to be an Australian, I am proud today that we have, as a parliament, acted to remove discrimination, and they certainly look forward to many, many weddings to come.
Janet Rice:
I am overwhelmed. It has been such a long time coming, from 2004 and well before that, the campaigning that has been done and what is so special about having achieved this today has been achieving it with the support of people from right across the political spectrum, with the support of people from right across Australia.
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