Response from Tamar Cordover, Independent, Franklin
PERMISSION
To ensure we meet our obligations under the Electoral Act we ask for your
permission to publish your responses to our questions. Please write your
name below to give us permission to publish. If you are not an
independent, please indicate your party or grouping.
Name: Tamar Cordover
Party of grouping: Independent for Franklin
Thank you to Equality Tas for welcoming my below submission.
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1. LEGISLATION NEEDED IN THE NEXT TERM OF
GOVERNMENT
a. Conversion practices
Questions
Do you want to see an end to conversion practices in Tasmania? YES
Will you enact or vote for a prohibition on conversion practices based on
the recommendations of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute? YES
Do you believe this should be high priority? YES!!!
b. Intersex surgeries
Questions
Will you enact or vote for a prohibition on medically-unnecessary
interventions on children with innate variations of sex characteristics
based on the recommendations of the TLRI? YES
Do you believe this should be high priority? YES!!!!!
Will you support the provision of redress for those who have undergone
damaging, medically-unnecessary and non-consensual medical
interventions? YES
c. Hate crime
Questions
Will you enact or vote for reform of the Sentencing Act that allows for
aggravated sentencing when a crime is motivated by hatred on the basis
of a range of attributes including sexual orientation, gender identity and
variations of sex characteristics. YES
Will you support more resources to enable police to be trained to identify,
collect data on, and prosecute crime motivated by hate? YES, 100% Yes.
This is a priority. Without police training and data collection access to
justice is impacted. We need a wholistic approach to solving issues in the
justice system, which needs to be more accessible, inclusive and educated
to diverse issues.
d. Stalking law reform
Question
Will you support changes to section 192 of the Criminal Code to ensure
victims of those crimes can be sure police are empowered to gather
evidence and bring charges without having to seek prior consent of the
DPP? YES
e. Expungement of historical criminal records
Questions
Will you enact or vote for the review’s recommendations to be
implemented? YES
If you indicated support for the recommendations, does this include in-
principle support for financial redress for survivors, of an amount to be
determined by a parliamentary inquiry? YES. It is vital to recognise that
the significant discrimination caused by criminalising homosexuality has
had impacts to our friends, our neighbours, our community in ways that
are difficult to even quantity. Though redress will never be enough for
those who were forced to experience the ongoing discrimination of
criminalisation, and while financial redress will not resolve the impact of
criminalisation, it is an important gesture of acknowledgment and
apology.
f. An LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act
QuestionsDo you support an LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act similar to the proposed
Disability Inclusion Bill? YES, definitely
If unsure, do you support an inquiry into the need for an LGBTIQA+
Inclusion Act? YES
g. A Human Rights Act
Question
Will you enact or vote for a Tasmanian Human Rights Act in line with the
recommendations of the TLRI? YES
2. PROTECTING EXISTING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
a. The Anti-Discrimination Act
Questions
Will you vote against any attempt to remove existing protections for
students, staff and clients of faith-based schools and services? YES
Will you vote against any attempt to weaken or otherwise amend section
17 of the Anti-Discrimination Act, including any attempt to allow
intimidation and humiliation etc in the name of religion?
YES. The Anti-Discrimination Act and section 17 offer essential human
rights protections and must be upheld. Any attempt to weaken this
section must be vigorously opposed. There is nothing to be gained by
allowing anti-social and prejudiced extremist perspectives (under the
guise of religion) to overturn protections against discrimination. The
perception that fanatical or zealot behaviours should be allowed to
overturn protections against discrimination are archaic and wrong.
b. Gender recognition laws
Question
Will you vote against any attempt to weaken or otherwise amend
Tasmania’s gender identity recognition laws? YES
c. Respecting parental rights and opposing censorship
Questions
Will you respect parental choice and freedom, and oppose censorship, by
allowing schools and libraries to include age-appropriate LGBTIQA+ books
in their collections? YES. We all have the right to be included and visible.Will you respect parental choice and freedom, and oppose censorship, by
not speaking out against age-appropriate drag story time? YES, I support
age-appropriate drag story time.
3. LGBTIQA+ HEALTH AND WELLBEING
a. Government LGBTIQA+ Framework and Action Plan
Question
Do you give in-principle support to the development and implementation
of an Action Plan and Framework with appropriate funding based on
the Telling Us the Story report? YES
b. Mental health
Question
Do you support a dedicated Tasmanian LGBTIQA+ mental health service?
YES
c. Service delivery and policy-making
Question
Do you commit to maintaining funding that will enable statewide service
delivery by Working It Out? YES
Question
Do you support a continuation of this funding? YES
d. Community fund
Questions
Do you support this fund? YES
e. Housing and substance abuse strategies
Question
Will you support LGBTIQA+ people being a priority group in Tasmania’s
housing and substance-harm strategies? YES. It is vital that people are
housed, and that all, including populations identifies as disproportionatelyexposed to prejudice, that they like all others, can have access to safe
housing choices.
f. Trans and gender diverse health care
Question
Do you support increased funding for the Sexual Health Service to meet
demand and reduce wait times, as well as ongoing professional
development for healthcare providers working with the trans and gender
diverse community? YES
Question
Will you oppose an inquiry into health care for young trans and gender
diverse people? YES
g. Clinic
Question
Do you support a dedicated, multidisciplinary, LGBTIQA+ healthcare
centre? YES
h. Legal Service
Question
Do you support a dedicated LGBTIQA+ legal service? YES. And a
Tasmanian dedicated Disability Legal Service. We all deserve access to
legal supports that can look at the law though the lens of our lived
experiences.
4. Government, parliament and the LGBTIQA+community
a. Professional development for government employees
Question
Do you support funding to ensure all school staff, health staff, police and
emergency services staff, prison staff and Service Tasmania staff have
professional development in the issues facing LGBTIQA+ Tasmanians?
YES, absolutely. To ensure inclusion, equality and access to justice we
need professional development that trains for: multicultural awareness;
LGBTIQA+; disability; and intersectionality training, led by lived-
experience and across all the mentioned arenas.
b. Consultation and representation
Questions
Do you support the continuation of the existing government / LGBTIQA+
reference groups in the departments of education, health, police and
emergency services, justice and across the whole of government (some of
which have been in place for a quarter of a century)? YES
Do you support the appointment of an equality minister in the State
Government? YES
Do you support the appointment of an LGBTIQA+ Commissioner (see
LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Act above)? YES
Do you support the establishment of a Parliamentary LGBTIQA+
Friendship Group? YES
Do you support a Tasmanian LGBTIQA+ Staff Pride Network across the
public sector (there are already agency specific networks in Police and
Emergency Services, State Growth and Health? YES