HEGGEN: Minister, welcome to Adelaide Afternoons.
WONG: Good afternoon, good to be with you. Happy New Year and all of that
HEGGEN: You too, and I got your Happy New Year Chinese New Year card today, thank you very much. Were in the Year of The Snake are we?
WONG: Not quite, I think the New Year is nearly here; I think its in February, because its the Lunar Calendar not the Gregorian. But it is the Year of The Snake this year ... my father is a snake Ill have to ask him what that means. (laughs)
HEGGEN: (laughs) Thank you. Look this is just sheer madness and, you know, I apologise that we are speaking about this in 2013.But youve had some comments to say in regard to Tess Corbett and Bernard Gaynors, you know ... madness.
WONG: I would say a few things about the comments. The first is: I dont believe they reflect todays Australia. And they certainly dont reflect the values that the vast majority of Australians have. I dont think bigotry has a place in our society.
And, you know, for people like me who have heard many of these things before and, you know, Im pretty secure in who I am, its not necessarily something you havent heard before. But the thing that always worries me when I hear these comments is I think about young gay and lesbian Australians, maybe some in country areas, who hear these things from public figures and the message they hear is that that theyre not okay. And I dont think thats a good message for any child to hear.
HEGGEN: Now Bob Katter himself I noticed tried to distance himself from the comments of two of his members, but hes fallen a bit short of coming out and slamming them for the comments. Are you disappointed about that?
WONG: I havent seen that much about what Bob said. I saw that he was reported online as saying that the remark was stupid and that the Party will deal with it and I accept that hell do that. I think more importantly is the response from the community and the fact that people like you and many people across the community are saying this is really not okay to speak about some Australians in the way that theyre being spoken about. As you said in your introduction, to seriously say in todays Australia that someone who is gay is akin to a paedophile, is completely offensive.
HEGGEN: Tell us about the consolidation, the exemptions, within the Anti-Discrimination Act. Can you tell us what changes the Federal Governments making?
WONG: Sure. We put out a draft Bill and it certainly excited quite a bit of response from all sides of the debate, and I encourage anybody who has an interest in it that there is a Senate inquiry underway and people are welcome to put there views into that process and the Government will certainly consider them.
What we have tried to do is bring together Australias five anti-discrimination laws federal laws so that they are more consistent. We are also consistent with our election commitment, adding protection for gay and lesbian Australians on the basis of their sexual orientation which hasnt been done before.
In terms of exemptions, there is a task here to balance the practice of religious exemptions which are part of our existing law with the principle non-discrimination. People have very strong views on both sides of that debate. What we have done and you talked about this is weve said that for aged care providers, we would limit their exemption because we think that if you are a gay couple that you ought to have the ability to receive aged care services and not be discriminated against simply because you are gay, and there was some evidence that had occurred.
HEGGEN: Im just reading from your media release that we have been sent today. So, under the proposed changes aged care providers currently can stop a same-sex couple sharing a room. That would be overturned. But I do note that currently schools can refuse to enrol a child of same-sex parents and that would be allowed to continue into the future. That really shocks me, that theyre even allowed to do this
WONG: That is the existing law and whether or not people choose to use the exemption in that way is a matter for them. Look, its a difficult balance. Im an employer and as you can imagine Im not going to be seeking any exemptions for people in terms of my employment practices. But weve got a long standing position in this country that we balance freedom of religion against the rights to not be discriminated against. Weve made some changes to that in the aged care area and, otherwise, the Bill continues the existing law. What I would say is, if people have a view about this, is that they should put their views into the Senate Committee.
HEGGEN: It really saddens me, and as a mother, as a parent, how am I meant to be able to teach my children tolerance and acceptance and that we are all the same human beings, regardless of race, religion, colour, creed, sexuality, if for example in their school they are not allowed to mix with children whose parents are of the same sex, purely because they are allowed to discriminate; the schools allowed to discriminate. I just didnt even know that that was the law.
WONG: Yes, and I dont know how many schools would actually do that and I suppose if you were in that situation it would be something you could talk to the school about. I mean, my answer to you probably would be as a parent, in the same way that Ill bring my daughter up. Regardless of what other people think well try and teach her what we think is right and that is that all people are created equal; that your character and your ethics are what matter and your capacity is what matters, not attributes such as your sexuality or your gender or your race. And I think that really is the ethical position that most Australians hold.
HEGGEN: We are in a very interesting year. We are in a federal election year. How are you gearing up for that personally, Minister?
WONG: Well, its been nice to have a break. Im sure all of us enjoyed the break over the summer. Did you have a break Belinda?
HEGGEN: I did, I had three weeks. It seems like a long time ago now (laughs).
WONG: (laughs) I think we all needed a break. It was a pretty full on year last year and it got pretty aggressive and pretty negative, and I certainly found it a difficult year and I suspect a lot of people even watching politics found it a bit difficult. It sometimes can be soul destroying when people arent talking about the things that matter to you and it gets so personal and sometimes so nasty.
I hope this year we can focus on what each partys plans for the future are and Im happy to have that discussion. We should be judged ultimately by what are we going to do for our community; what sort of plans we have on education, on disability, on the economy; what are the plans for making sure we have an inclusive, strong Australian community and a strong economy. I think those are the things that most of the people listening to your program want to know, rather than the sort of aggressive politics which unfortunately became a bit dominant last year.
HEGGEN: A big week for the Prime Minister Julia Gillard who announced the end of the career of Senator Trish Crossin by parachuting in well-known Indigenous Olympic gold medallist, Nova Peris. What do you think about that? You back the appointment of Nova Peris?
WONG: I think it is high time we had an Indigenous person representing Labor in the Federal Parliament. Trish Crossin is a friend of mine. Shes been a great contributor for Labor and for the Northern Territory, but I think the Prime Minister was right to say its really important for Labor which has had such a proud history when it comes to Indigenous representation and Indigenous advancement in this country its very important for us to have someone who can represent that community in the Federal Parliament.
HEGGEN: Was it fair, though, to end the career of a proven Senator, Trish Crossin? Some people have called it tokenism.
WONG: I always reject the notion of tokenism. I think Ive heard that in relation to me, Ive heard that in relation to women, Ive heard that in relation to young women, and I think people said that about Kate Ellis and shes a Minister. So I think thats often something people throw at new candidates.
My view is that Im sure Nova can make a very strong contribution to Labor. She certainly comes with a history of community activism. Im sure she has a lot to learn, she said that herself. But for the Party thats had reconciliation and the advancement of the interests of Aboriginal people as one of the central tenets of modern Labor, I think its right and proper that we have an Indigenous candidate.
HEGGEN: Finance Minister Penny Wong, always good to have you on the program. Thank you.
WONG: Enjoy the rest of your program.
ENDS