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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-22 Daily Xml
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Motions

LGBTIQ Community

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (16:47): I move:

That this house—

(a) expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the recent horrific mass shooting in Orlando, Florida; and

(b) stands together with the LGBTIQ community around the world to condemn such a senseless act of violence and denounce all forms of discrimination that may contribute to such hatred.

I rise to briefly add my contribution to this important motion. Like many of us in this house, I was deeply shocked and upset to wake up to the horrifying news that a gunman had shot and killed 49 people and injured 53 others in an Orlando gay nightclub. This tragic act of violence is an affront to us here in Australia for whom such widescale acts of violence are thankfully few and far between. This act was indeed an affront to humanity across the world. This incident serves as an acute reminder that the world is not always a safe place and particularly not so for our LGBTIQ brothers and sisters. President Obama, in his remarks about the event, reminded us:

The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub—it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.

These words resonate for us here in Adelaide too. Places like the Mars Bar and so many others are not just places to have fun, a good night out, and to engage in some questionable dance moves. They are symbols of an unwillingness to hide in the shadows, a place to present a proud and an unapologetic face to the world, a place to be oneself. They present an opportunity for a declaration that it is absolutely okay to be and to embrace who you are and that your rights are and should always be the same as the rights of others.

I know many of us in this parliament feel the burden of just how far we have to go on these issues and how much work there is to do to ensure full equality. This year, as we pass legislation following the SA Law Reform Institute report, we take big steps towards eliminating formal discrimination against members of our LGBTIQ community and we seek to ensure that no-one is treated differently and/or negatively on the basis of their sexuality or gender. It is incredibly important work that I am so happy to be a part of. It is work that is at the heart of what we must achieve in this place.

We also, however, have a responsibility as leaders in our communities to work with others to embrace, promote and make change beyond legislative change. Events like those in Orlando are an absolutely tragic reminder of just how far we have to go in our journey of acceptance of all people. We still have so much to do to change culture, to act with love in all we do, to promote acceptance of all and to utterly reject hate for and intolerance of those who are different from what is perceived by mainstream culture as the norm.

As the victims of this atrocity are remembered and mourned by their friends, families, loved ones and communities they have become tragic and important symbols for our queer community and our community more generally. They have become champions for the mantra that love conquers hate. The hatred and the violence inherent in the Orlando tragedy has spurred acts of defiance and acts of love and solidarity across the world. Vigils occurred in every corner of the globe and even in places where it is legally not safe to be queer or a supporter of queer people.

I am proud that our state has held not one but two vigils to mark this global tragedy and to mourn together with our beautiful Adelaide Oval and even our footbridge lit up in rainbow colours in commemoration of the victims. Sometimes in these darkest of moments we are able to remember that there is more that unites us than divides us. The outpouring of grief from across the world helps us to see this more clearly, and the championing of a culture of love through this tragedy rather than hate gives us some hope that eventually our unity and our combined desire for a world that is truly accepting of all will prevail.

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (16:52): I rise to add my voice and that of the South Australian Liberal Party in offering our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting and, in doing so, obviously support this motion. Forty-nine are dead and a further 53 were injured, mostly gay young Americans with Hispanic heritage in the deadliest terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. Among the dead was Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, aged 49, who, in the ultimate expression of maternal instinct, put her son's life before her own. I am reading here from a CNN media report that says:

As gunshots rang at the Pulse nightclub, McCool flung herself over her son, shielding him from the two bullets that would put an end to her life.

It was at her funeral on Monday that Isaiah Henderson, 21, broke down as he paid a touching tribute to his mother—the two-time survivor of cancer and a true fighter.

Standing in the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, at a pulpit adorned with McCool's portrait, Henderson delivers a powerful eulogy that characterizes both the tragic loss and eternal gratitude he feels:

'I just want to say my mom was the best mom out there,' he begins, choking on emotion. 'I never thought her life would be ended right in front of my eyes,' he says as he collapses into tears.

'She was the mom everyone wanted,' he added. 'She loved everyone deeply no matter what.'

The reaction of solidarity and humanity that occurred after the event was inspiring and says to all that we can come together as a community even after such tragic circumstances. For me, what characterised the best of humanity most were the huge lines of people who waited hours to give blood. Very soon after the shooting occurred in the early hours of that morning the call went out from the Red Cross that blood was needed and as much of it as possible. In response, the people of Orlando came out in droves, lining up for hours and hours on end to donate. This outpouring of practical support should give us hope that our society can react positively and find a way past this senseless act.

Others, though, have used this heinous attack as a political act to push their various agendas. It was rightly labelled as a terrorist attack and a hate crime. The perpetrator, it has been revealed, had a history of homophobic tendencies and, during the shooting, he called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS. The perpetrator's use of a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic pistol has again reignited the gun control debate with proponents calling for tighter control whilst others say that more guns would have helped limit the casualties. Others have talked of this being a terrorist act by an Islamic actor, and others, rightly, of it being an act of extreme homophobia.

Here in Australia, prior to 1996, we had 13 mass shootings in 18 years. Following the tragic Port Arthur massacre, then prime minister John Howard pushed for tighter gun control and, since that time, we have not had one mass shooting here in Australia. These facts have been often repeated in the days before and post the Orlando shooting and show that, as Australians, I think we have come together, post a tragic event such as Port Arthur was, and found a way to improve our society while being respectful of the fact that everything we did had the victims of the Port Arthur tragedy very much first and foremost in our minds.

This tragedy, it seems, has pushed people into their various corners, using this tragedy to justify their already pre-existing views. Can I say in closing that, for the people of the US and the people of the world more broadly, I would hope that we could use this event to bring people together, to bring people out from their entrenched positions so that we can actually deal with the issues respectfully and in a consensus-driven, moderated way.

We need to build a better world and improve our humanity in a way that strengthens our society. In working towards that better society, we must ensure that the victims and the senseless loss of life remain at the centre of our thoughts and deeds. To the people of Orlando, to the people of the US, to the families and friends of the victims, we offer our condolences on behalf of the South Australian Liberal Party. Hopefully, we, as a collective human race, can find ways to work together to ensure that things like this never happen again.

Ms COOK (Fisher) (16:57): I rise in strong support of this motion today. On Saturday 11 June, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American of Afghani descent, walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando at around 2am. Within a few hours, he had killed 49 people and left a further 53 people injured. The Pulse nightclub is a popular gay bar, and Omar Marteen went there specifically to kill LGBTIQ people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and friends, as well as the LGBTIQ community in Orlando and around the world whose members are left in shock at the hateful and violent nature of this act. As Chad Griffin, the head of Human Rights Campaign, said:

The maniac who did this was somehow conditioned to believe that LGBT people deserve to be massacred. And he wasn't just hearing these messages from ISIL. He was hearing it from politicians and radical anti-LGBT extremists here in our own country.

It is a disturbing reminder of the terrible consequences of hatred and how it is voiced. The fact is that hate is taught. Our children are not born to hate. It is a wake-up call to people in countries like Australia not to become complacent because of the advancements we have made. Homophobia is still very real. It remains against the law to be gay in 73 countries, incurring prison sentences of up to life in prison and, in 10 of these, homosexual activity carries the death penalty still.

Closer to home, Brunei recently announced that it would reintroduce stoning to death as the penalty for a range of crimes, including sodomy. This is not just a problem in the developing world or of fundamental religious values. In mid-2013, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released the findings of Europe's largest-ever survey of LGBTI people. Of the 93,000 respondents, over a quarter of LGBTI people reported having been violently attacked or threatened in the last five years, and the vast majority of these attacks went unreported because victims had so little faith that the system would treat them equally.

Similar stories are being heard here in Australia. The Star Observer, a leading online LGBTIQ news outlet, reported on 16 June 2016 that multiple homophobic assaults in Sydney and Melbourne occurred in the 24 hours following the Orlando massacre. It is just terrible. One victim, Thomas Grainger, was on a train in Sydney when he was assaulted. He did not report the assault because he was not sure if the police would even take him seriously. He was worried he would be blamed for catching the train dressed in drag. Now, in light of the horrors that played out in Orlando, it is easy to view such incidents as comparatively insignificant. That would be a mistake. As the CEO of Stonewall, Ruth Hunt, wrote in TheTelegraph:

We must never be complacent about those, write them off as banter or 'one offs' or shy away from calling something out for fear of being labelled overly sensitive. It is paramount that we recognise the fact that these instances are linked and, while not putting ourselves in direct danger, do what we can to intervene and prevent discrimination taking place around us.

This is exactly why I oppose a plebiscite on marriage equality. It sends so many messages that I find abhorrent such as that same-sex relationships are somehow less worthy than others, that marriage equality is not a fundamental human right but an issue to be decided through a non-binding popular vote; and, most disturbingly, it sends an open invitation to hate preachers to vilify the LGBTIQ community. A perfect example of this is a shameful tweet written by Family First Senate candidate, Peter Madden, following the shooting. He said:

Though Orlando is abhorrent, it doesn't change the real & present dangers of the gay marriage agenda to Aus children.

To have the lack of sensitivity to write such a thing in the midst of this terrible grief simply highlights the dangers of this plebiscite. We have seen too many times that hatred, when taught, tends to perpetuate and grow unless it is locally and vehemently challenged.

It is time we put a stop to this once and for all. South Australians have stood in solidarity with the people of Orlando, especially the LGBTI community so scarred by this terrible event at what should have been a time of celebration. We share their grief. We offer our condolences on the deaths of so many and the terrible impact on those they leave behind. Last week, Adelaide Oval was lit up in rainbow colours and hundreds, including our Premier, braved a cold winter night to attend a vigil in Elder Park to remember the victims. Adelaide's LGBT nightclub, the Mars Bar, had people laying tributes to the Orlando victims at its door.

I feel deeply for the people affected by Orlando. I know this pain, the feeling of helplessness of what they are going through. Their hearts are heavy and the burden is so great that even walking and basic functioning become almost impossible. I wish strength and peace to the families, friends and victims of this abhorrent act, and I commend the motion to the house.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (17:02): When I heard of what happened in the US, my mind immediately swung back to Port Arthur. That was something that impacted deeply on Australia and on me. For my own reasons, I have a flagpole on our drive and I have an American flag, so my way of expressing my deep sadness, etc. was to take the American flag up and I flew it up there for seven days at half-mast. That was my act to show my compassion and feeling for the American people.

We are very close to the American people. We are very closely allied to them. My connection with the United States goes back a long time, some 45 years, I am afraid to say, to when my sister had 12 months in the United States as a Rotary exchange student and I travelled across the United States during the Vietnam War. I never forgot the kindness of the people, and I think that is something that we need to reflect on while we discuss this motion. Obviously we will vote for this motion.

We need to think of the American people. The American people are very good people, they are very polite people, and it is fair to say that they are horrified by what happens from time to time. Remember that that nation is some 15 times the population of ours. Remember that it has a completely different system of government and remember that their constitution brings everything into some sort of order, for me. If they have failed, and failed dismally, it is on the issue of being paralysed over gun control or, more particularly, over the weapons that are pretty freely available.

I am not being political about this, but John Howard moved very promptly after Port Arthur to act on semiautomatic weapons and that went through and was accepted. Some people did not like it; some people still do not like it. However, that action was undertaken and I suspect there was a very bipartisan view of that across Australia by most people. The people of the United States will be questioning their society and they will be trying to work out how on earth this keeps on happening.

It was an appalling thing. I care deeply about the people, but I do not care what their practice or anything is. That is not it for me. They are humans. They are people on this planet with us. They are no different from us, and that is what gets to me. As a matter of fact, the member for Ashford and I were fortunate enough to go last year to North America for a CPA conference and, after that, my wife and I travelled down through Seattle to San Francisco.

I spent a lot of time wandering around and I actually felt safer walking around Seattle and San Francisco, both daytime and night-time, than I feel walking around in Adelaide. I felt much safer. It was quite amazing to me. I would walk out singly and not be at all worried over there, whereas I feel uncomfortable walking around some parts of Adelaide at night. I feel uncomfortable and, quite frankly, I avoid it.

I do have deep compassion for the families in Orlando for what happened. I think it is an appalling thing. I think this parliament having a few words to say is a useful exercise and it allows us to put some things on the record. However we feel is irrelevant to me. We are all on the same page, quite frankly. The United States is a marvellous country. We would not be here, if it were not for the United States, in the form we are now. We would not be here, so we do continually support them.

President Obama has significantly failed on the issue of gun control, you would have to say. I do not know whether the next president or the president after that will be successful because it is such a big issue and it is just something that happens over there. You can shake your heads, but I believe he has failed on it. I am very happy to support the motion and have those few words to say but, for me, it is a very deeply personal thing. I will resume my place.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (17:07): The Orlando massacre is a stark reminder of where homophobia and transphobia can lead and illustrates the need to stamp out prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It is a reminder of why we strive to achieve equality of opportunity for all, and why we emphasise the importance of fostering social inclusion, respect and equality in our community.

This government continues to strive for equality for all South Australians. In 2014, I launched the South Australian Strategy for the Inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer People, which was a significant milestone in addressing the discrimination and inequality experienced by these communities. It was the first time the South Australian government attempted to look at LGBTIQ inclusion from a whole-of-government perspective.

This strategy requires my department (Department for Communities and Social Inclusion) to work across government and influence all service providers to ensure they engage with LGBTIQ citizens and deliver their services in ways that are accessible and inclusive. Since launching this strategy, the department has undertaken a number of projects, including presentations to government departments about the evidence behind the strategy and the importance of access and inclusion.

We developed a one-off grant program which provided over $50,000 for projects to increase inclusion and wellbeing and to increase the capacity and resilience of these communities. We provided effective community engagement with the communities through forums, representing the state government in pride marches and attending events organised by LGBTIQ community groups. The department has also led the way by organising a community breakfast in 2014 and 2015 to acknowledge International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, arguably one of the most important dates in the calendar.

The department has worked collaboratively with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet on a series of projects aimed at increasing the understanding of the barriers faced by LGBTIQ people when seeking services and developing a more inclusive workplace culture, including a recent production of a five-minute video highlighting the importance of inclusive workplaces and services and the development of an online training package. The launch of the South Australian Strategy for the Inclusion of LGBTIQ People 2014 was a landmark event, as is the current work being carried out by this government on legal reform—work that aims to eliminate unnecessary and unfair discriminations toward LGBTIQ people in our legal system.

We know we have a way to go, but as a government we are committed to eliminating the discrimination faced by many people on a daily basis. I know that all of us in the chamber will join me in paying our deepest condolences to the families and friends of all those who died, and we pray that all those injured and present on that night are able to recover as best they can. I say to the LGBTIQ South Australians that, while most of us will never experience the hatred expressed in Orlando, we have your back. We support you and we grieve with you.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (17:12): It is with resignation and sadness that I rise to talk on this motion. We, as a house, and I think each of the members in it on behalf of our communities, share in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the recent horrific mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, and, the second part of the motion, that we stand together with the LGBTIQ community around the world to condemn such a senseless act of violence, and denounce all forms of discrimination that may contribute to such hatred.

I stand because I feel, as a representative of my community and one of the members of the opposition who is able to do so today, a burden of responsibility to share my grief and my lack of understanding of what can go through the mind of somebody who dehumanises people to such an extent that when they walk into a room they want to take away their life and their humanity altogether. All evil begins with the removal in your own eyes of somebody else's humanity or with failure to accept that that person is human or your failure to accept that they have any purpose being here.

I think that when we try to comprehend the incomprehensible and we try to imagine the drivers of evil, it really is important for us as community leaders to contemplate how we can lead our communities in a way that will ensure that all of us are constantly encouraging us to see the humanity in the eyes of the people we stand with, to never forget their humanity and to never forget their God-given place on this earth that we share for but a moment.

I do not want to talk about political day-to-day issues on the Australian landscape today. I do not want to argue about the political histories of whose party is responsible for this or whose party is responsible for that. My party stands proud with forerunners like Murray Hill, Steele Hall and David Tonkin, who were at the forefront of rights for gay and lesbian South Australians decades ago. We stand here as a parliament united—united in our condemnation of hatred and united in our condemnation of evil.

Inasmuch as there is a raging debate going on in the United States—and in the last couple of days Congress has been considering changes to gun laws—in this country, many of us do not understand the decisions that are necessarily being made, but those elected representatives serve their communities in the way they see fit, and that is their sovereign right. I do make the very brief point that an atrocity such as this is hard to imagine possible in this country because the availability of weapons that are capable of committing such an atrocity is not here.

It is important, when we contemplate our role as lawmakers, that we look to current events and to history. As the member for Finniss identified, that is why it is important to note matters such as these in the parliament for a brief hour. On behalf of my community, on behalf of my party and on behalf of this parliament, I am sure everyone will share my words. We grieve for those who have been slain and we share nothing but deep sorrow and the heaviest of condolences with their families. We wish that we may not have motions like this in the future. We may wish in vain, but we still wish it.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (17:16): First of all, I would like to thank the minister on behalf of the Labor caucus for introducing the motion:

That this house—

(a) expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the recent horrific mass shooting in Orlando, Florida; and

(b) stands together with the LGBTIQ community around the world to condemn such a senseless act of violence and denounce all forms of discrimination that may contribute to such hatred.

In a shocking way, we are reminded of the need for more education and discussion in the community with regard to diversity. It is my view that the Governor's speech at the start of parliament set out an important agenda for legislative change, assisted by the work of the SA Law Reform Institute and many organisations and members in this place. As a member of Rainbow Labor, and along with many others in our community, I believe it is important to acknowledge what has happened and send my condolences to the families and people who have been affected by this terrible event.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (17:17): I would like to add my support for this motion and also endorse the comments made by earlier speakers, particularly the member for Morialta because I think he in many ways covered the issues I would like to mention. I think it is very important because at the heart of all evil acts is the person's lack of empathy towards others. It does not matter what causes the lack of empathy: it is that lack of empathy. It also reflects a lack of respect for the human being. It attacks their inherent human dignity.

Whether you are a member of the LGBTIQ community or an ethnic community, like me, whether it is a gender issue or whatever our difference is, what these acts towards others have in common is that they do not accept the inherent dignity of the individual. I think it is at that level that we should maintain this discussion and debate because if we try to just isolate an issue of one particular community, I think we miss the point. The point is that each individual has an inherent dignity, and we have to respect that. We have to respect our differences.

On the one hand, we cannot sit or stand here and argue about accepting differences and then just condemn others for different views. The challenge for us is to change those views. The challenge for us is in this place is not to lecture others we disagree with. Whether it is from the pulpit or whether we stand here, lecturing gets us nowhere. All it does is reinforce people's prejudices and lack of understanding. What we need to do is make sure that we walk alongside those people we disagree with, not to agree with them, not to endorse their views, but to actually deal with them, to understand them and to change their views, or else we fail.

These sorts of events will happen again and again in our world if we do not change those people's views. As the member for Morialta said, if we do not change those people they dehumanise others. In times of war, unfortunately that is a deliberate strategy. It is a deliberate strategy to dehumanise the enemy so that you can do what you like with them and not feel any remorse. To some extent, that is what happens in our society in between wars. That is why I do not particularly like the shock jocks, and that is why I do not particularly like some of the commentators in this country and overseas because they dehumanise people. They make them an 'us' and 'other', which makes it easier for 'us' to do to the 'other'.

I have no doubt that the person in America who committed this horrible crime, one which is very hard to put into perspective, a crime that would kill so many people, hurt so many families and attacked such a community. What is it that gave him permission to do that? What is it in that society that gave him permission to think it is appropriate behaviour? We can speculate what that may have been, but the point is that in a society we all contribute to that, and we need to understand that.

We also need to understand that laws can only go so far in changing human behaviour. I accept that laws do help. Laws that are passed by this place do make a contribution, but if we walk away from this place thinking that if we have changed the law we have done our bit, then we are misguided. We really are misguided because law is only part of the formal part of our society, and most behaviour acts out in a formal basis.

In fact, I would say that most people act morally and appropriately irrespective of the law because it is what they believe in. Sometimes, we think the law can change things, but I think that we are not acting appropriately. We should be in our communities interacting with people—and interacting with people with whom we do not agree. More importantly, we should be interacting with people with whom we do agree. We tend to always go to those people with whom we agree. It is very simple to do that, and political parties probably do it better than others.

We need to act with people with whom we do not agree. We need to change that. As the member for Morialta said, the root of all evil is when we actually believe that another person is not human and we can do what we like to them, and that has happened over time. We need to change that. It would be fair to say that we are better off, in some sense, in this country than in other countries and that we have a much more tolerant society. In other words, even though we may not agree with somebody, we may not accept what they say, we will tolerate them in the sense that we accept that they have a right to be in this community with us.

My message today would be that we need to also stop dealing with the issues in a binary way. We need to stop saying, 'It is either this or that.' The reality of the human condition, the reality of our human existence, is much more complex. That is not to say we should not act. It just means that if you do not believe in one thing, it does not mean you are opposed to it. It means that you may think there is a different, alternative strategy to achieve something.

In the 10 years that I have been here, I have heard around this chamber quite a bit of binary discussion, where if you are not for it you must be against it, which is just a nonsense. If you are the person against it, that gives you the right to do something else, or if you were for it. We need to move beyond that. We need to understand the complexity of our human existence, and we need to understand the complexity of our behaviour. In the end, though, if we really want things to change, sometimes we need to change ourselves as well. We really need to change ourselves as well and the way in which we approach things.

With those few comments, I certainly offer my condolences to that community and to those families who have suffered loss. Having said that, there is nothing I can say to make it right. What we can do is perhaps learn from that experience and make sure that we change people's behaviour so that it does not happen again.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (17:23): I also rise to add my condolences to the family and to the community in Orlando. I can only agree with the member for Morialta, the member for Light and others who have made the point about dehumanising others, or seeing them as not fully human or as not having some valid role to play in our society, which is clearly a cause of not only great distress but, obviously in this case, great evil.

Many people have suggested that in the same way that darkness is the absence of light, so evil is also the absence of good, which is why it is our duty, as individuals, to always try to add some good into our communities and into our societies. This motion, from a parliament so far away, is a small piece of good, but it is important that we speak up in support of these people and that we say that this behaviour is obviously completely unacceptable.

Obviously, I am preaching from the other side of the Pacific and from a long way away, but those people in the United States who share our position as legislators seriously need to look at their firearms laws. I am a shooter, a firearm owner, but there is absolutely no need for people to have semiautomatic assault weapons that are designed to kill people. The easy access to these weapons makes what happened in Orlando easier. It is not the sole cause, it is not even any part of the cause, but it facilitated it, and it made the circumstances so much worse than they otherwise would have been with other laws.

The two parts of my contribution are to pass on my heartfelt condolences to those families who have lost loved ones and to those families who are suffering through the recovery process of the injured and also to urge from afar legislators in the United States to review and change their firearms laws.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (17:26): I again offer my condolences, and I also express my gratitude and thanks for the way in which we have been unified in our expression of those condolences in this house. Certainly, in relation to the member for Newland's comments just a few moments ago, it is by working together in a bipartisan way that we can help US legislators address issues in relation to firearms laws. Together, as a unified parliament, we can address all discrimination against LGBTIQ people in our community. I thank all of the contributors to this debate.

Motion carried.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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