Legislative Council
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3138 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Wednesday 24 October 2007 __________ The President (The Hon. Peter Thomas Primrose) took the chair at 11.00 a.m. The President read the Prayers. LAW ENFORCEMENT (POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES) AMENDMENT BILL 2007 Bill received from the Legislative Assembly, and read a first time and ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. Motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly agreed to: That standing orders be suspended to allow the passing of the bill through all its remaining stages during the present or any one sitting of the House. Second reading set down as an order of the day for a later hour. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE ROYAL NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL Membership The PRESIDENT: I inform the House that the Clerk has received the following nominations for membership of the Joint Select Committee on the Royal North Shore Hospital: Government: The Hon. Amanda Fazio Opposition: The Hon. Jennifer Gardiner Message forwarded to the Legislative Assembly advising it of the nominations. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Postponement of Business Government Business Orders of the Day Nos. 1 to 3 postponed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. ANTI-DISCRIMINATION AMENDMENT (BREASTFEEDING) BILL 2007 Second Reading The Hon. TONY KELLY (Minister for Lands, Minister for Rural Affairs, Minister for Regional Development, and Vice-President of the Executive Council) [11.07 a.m.], on behalf of the Hon. John Della Bosca: I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. This bill provides for amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act to remove any doubt that discrimination on the ground of breastfeeding is unlawful. 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Thirty years ago, the New South Wales Parliament moved to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of race, sex and marital status in the areas of employment, the provision of goods and services and accommodation, and race discrimination in education. 24 October 2007 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 3139 Since then the New South Wales Parliament has responded to deal with other forms of discrimination. The Anti-Discrimination Act now applies to discrimination on many grounds, including age, religion, disability, carers' responsibilities, pregnancy, homosexuality and transgender status. Discrimination on these grounds is rendered unlawful in the areas of employment, State education, goods and services, accommodation and registered clubs. Both direct and indirect discrimination are against the law. Honourable Members, the bill before the House seeks to further enhance the coverage of the Anti-Discrimination Act by removing any doubt that discrimination on the ground of breastfeeding is unlawful. Discrimination on the grounds of a person's sex or a characteristic that pertains to a person of that sex, or is generally imputed to a person of that sex, is already unlawful under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. Pregnancy is specifically cited as a characteristic that appertains generally to women. This bill will insert a new provision into the Act to make it clear that breastfeeding is also a characteristic that appertains generally to women. The bill also provides that breastfeeding includes the act of expressing milk. The bill also makes it clear that a person is not to be treated as having unlawfully discriminated against a man on the ground of sex merely because that person grants a woman rights or privileges in connection to breastfeeding. It is timely for New South Wales to clarify the law in this area. There is now considerable evidence to suggest that increasing levels of breastfeeding will bring important benefits for the health of the Australian community. Clearly prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of breastfeeding will ensure that women who choose to breastfeed are protected from any discriminatory conduct which may impact on that choice. In 2003 the World Health Organisation and UNICEF jointly endorsed their Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding, which drew attention to the need to provide facilities for breastfeeding women to be able to engage in employment outside the home, while continuing to breastfeed. Enacting legislation to remove any doubt that discrimination on the grounds of breastfeeding is unlawful will make an important contribution to achieving this global goal. Honourable Members, these amendments will provide breastfeeding mothers with the protection of the law, helping to ensure that children in this State are given the best start in life. I commend the bill to the House. The Hon. ROBYN PARKER [11.07 a.m.]: On behalf of the Coalition I contribute to debate on the Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Breastfeeding) Bill 2007. I note that we are debating this bill during National Breast Cancer Week, when many fundraising functions are being held, so this issue is on our minds. This a motherhood bill that beats all other motherhood bills. When we want people to agree with something we come up with a motherhood statement, something that everyone would agree with and no-one will object to. Of course, no-one will object to this bill. The Coalition, of course, supports breastfeeding and the Anti-Discrimination Act. However, this bill is simply a ploy by a government in trouble, a government that is failing on many fronts. The Government has made a very poor effort, belatedly and unnecessarily, at a time when it is really in trouble. The Government's failure with the Royal North Shore Hospital, its failure to match Commonwealth funding, its failure to equitably provide infrastructure, its transport disasters and its policing issues have led it to come up with a motherhood bill. The bill is important, nevertheless, but it is an example of the Government's ability and desire to distract the public's attention from its other failures. However, it is a pretty poor effort, because the bill could have been passed a long time ago. Basically the Government has copied the Federal Government's amendment to the Anti-Discrimination Act, and it has taken four years to come up with this amending bill. The bill is virtually word for word the Howard Government's amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act, passed four years ago. The Government took four years to come up with these laws and it basically copied Federal legislation, which states— The Hon. John Della Bosca: Don't you support harmonisation? The Hon. ROBYN PARKER: Of course the Coalition supports harmonisation. However, this Government took four years to come up with these laws, which is pretty poor. The Government timed the introduction of this legislation to coincide with the anniversary of the Anti-Discrimination Act. I remind members that the Federal Government's amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act states: To avoid doubt breastfeeding, including the act of expressing milk, is a characteristic that appertains generally to women. 3140 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 24 October 2007 The Iemma Government's legislation, which was introduced four years later, states: The fact that a woman is breastfeeding or may breastfeed is a characteristic that appertains generally to women. For the purposes of this Act, breastfeeding includes the act of expressing of milk. The Iemma Government announced this legislation with great fanfare just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Anti-Discrimination Act. It took this Government four years to come up with these laws, and then all it did was copy the Howard Government. This Government should copy the Howard Government in the areas of financial management, the management of infrastructure and other areas—abilities that the Federal Government clearly has and that the Iemma Government does not. If this Government were serious about promoting breastfeeding it would do other things such as providing more funding to educate people about the benefits of breastfeeding and providing more funding for additional lactation nurses and advice. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing recently released its report entitled "The Best Start". The inquiry looked into the health benefits of breastfeeding. The Iemma Government could take on board some of the recommendations that were made in that report. Australia is experiencing a baby boom. The number of births in 2006 was at its highest level since 1971, and at its second-highest level since 1911. During the 1971 baby boom breastfeeding rates were at their lowest. As an enthusiastic supporter of breastfeeding I am encouraged to hear that a greater number of women are now engaging in that activity, but this Government could do a lot more to promote the scientific benefits and the long-term and short-term health benefits of breastfeeding. The entire community should be given information about the best nutrition and health and women should be given information about the advantages of breastfeeding. I am delighted that the New South Wales Parliament has now received accreditation from the Australian Breastfeeding Association, the former Nursing Mothers Association, which is welcome news. We all are enthusiastic about providing an environment in Parliament so that more women can participate in politics while managing competing demands. Nevertheless, this legislation was introduced as a distraction. On 3 October Anita Quigley wrote an interesting article about this bill in the Daily Telegraph. She said that, with all the matters we could be discussing in this Parliament, we are being distracted by legislation that obviously is supported. She also pointed out that antidiscrimination laws already protect women. The Government could examine other issues and provide women with more support. As I said earlier, this bill states: The fact that a woman is breastfeeding or may breastfeed is a characteristic that appertains generally to women. For the purposes of this Act, breastfeeding includes the act of expressing of milk. I support these amendments to the antidiscrimination laws.