Canberra must continue to be “as brave as we have been with same-sex marriage” in regards to human rights, former race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma says.
Mr Calma, one of several speakers taking part in discussions at the National Library on human rights disparities across Australia, said the challenge for human rights advocates was to take real action on goals.
“They shouldn’t just be aspirations … We need to make sure that discrimination is wiped out,” he said.
In a recorded address to the same function, former High Court justice Michael Kirby spoke out about being stigmatised for his sexuality.
Mr Kirby said coming to terms with his sexuality as a young man taught him that the law wasn’t always protective of minorities, “particularly unpopular minorities”.
“I grew up in a society that criminalised and stigmatised and penalised gay people, including myself,” he said.
Michael Kirby … “just because it was popular with the majority of people? didn’t really mean that the law was objectively just”.
“That was a very healthy corrective to my belief that parliament always did the right thing.”
His comments follow the introduction of marriage equality legislation in the ACT, allowing a number of same-sex weddings ahead of a High Court ruling on the constitutionality of the law on Thursday.
Mr Kirby said the experience taught him to question the decisions of parliament and the legal system.
“I came to the conclusion that just because it was the law and just because it was enacted by legislation and just because it was popular with the majority of people… didn’t really mean that the law was objectively just,” he said.
Mr Kirby’s comments were recorded as part of public forum on the state of human rights in the ACT, an International Human Rights Day event to be held at the National Library of Australia on Tuesday.
Speaking from Geneva where he is chairing an inquiry into alleged human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mr Kirby said some institutions in Australia were “very 19th century”.
Mr Kirby said the Human Rights Act legislation adopted by the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2004, the first legislated Bill of Rights in Australia, acted as a strong lead for the Commonwealth to follow.
“It’s important in Australia that we should not be too self-satisfied about our system of government,” he said.
“We should be seeking to learn from other nations and that we should learn from the actions taken in the ACT.”
ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell also paid tribute to former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope for his work in introducing the ground-breaking legislation, which paved the way for future developments such as recent marriage equality laws.
Mr Corbell said he was delighted the ACT had made history as the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate same-sex marriage, despite the challenge from the Federal Government.
“Regardless of the result, I am proud that the ACT has had the courage to facilitate this debate about the issue,” he said.
“This is truly human rights in action.”
Photo: Melissa Adams
Author: Stephanie Anderson
Publication: The Age
Date: 10 December 2013
Read the original article here