<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>327864</docID> <postdate>2024-08-29 16:10:13</postdate> <headline>LGBTQI backflip sparks a fight Labor tried to avoid</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-327865" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20220628001674233460-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Topics on gender and sexuality will not be included in the 2026 census. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Dominic Giannini and Kat Wong</b> in Canberra</span></p> <p>Labor says it wanted to avoid a "nasty" political fight when it backtracked on a pledge to count LGBTQI Australians in the next census but the decision has sparked anger and outrage anyway.</p> <p>The sex discrimination commissioner, queer community, advocacy bodies and crossbench MPs have all called for Labor to abide by its commitment to include LGBTQI Australians in the 2026 census.</p> <p>Commissioner Anna Cody expressed her disappointment, saying the decision "will strengthen the voices of discrimination and division that seek to disrupt the nation's social cohesion".</p> <p>About one in 10 Australians identify as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, the federal health department estimated in 2019.</p> <p>Better data about LGBTQI people who face "significant health disparities" compared to the rest of the population would lead to more informed policy decisions, Dr Cody said.</p> <p><a href="https://www.alp.org.au/media/3569/2023-alp-national-platform.pdf">Labor pledged to count the queer community</a> and agreed data relevant to LGBTQI Australians was needed in its National Platform released in 2023.</p> <p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics - which runs the census - had also apologised for not including sexual orientation in the 2021 snapshot and determined to invest and support the LGBTQI community "to fully participate" in the next one.</p> <p>The decision on questions was a government one and the bureau received confirmation on Friday to keep the census topics the same, it told AAP.</p> <p>Other Australian communities were already counted and adding LGBTQI Australians to the dataset was no different, Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said.</p> <p>"This government should and must govern for all Australians and in order to do that, they need to know how many of us there are out there in the community and where we live," she told a Sydney press conference on Thursday.</p> <p>Crossbenchers have added their voices to a growing chorus of discontent, signing a joint letter to the prime minister to reverse the decision with the LGBTQI community left "feeling excluded, demeaned and angry".</p> <p>Independent senator David Pocock said he was at "an absolute loss as to why the government would reverse course" on getting a more inclusive picture of the community.</p> <p>"This decision exacerbates the hurt already felt by many LGBTQI Australians following the last census," he said.</p> <p>But the government seems unlikely to double back to its commitment, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers saying "I'm not proposing that" when asked.</p> <p>The government wanted to "avoid some of the nastiness ... in the lead up to the census" and was focused on other issues such as the cost of living, he said.</p> <p>But the answer to minimising harm from negative rhetoric "cannot be to do nothing", Dr Cody said.</p> <p>Labor MP Graham Perrett said while he had not seen any proposed questions, the opposition leader would politicise the issue to attack the government.</p> <p>"Peter Dutton can weaponise anything that bespeaks a modern Australia," he told AAP.</p> <p>Ms Brown rejected the topic being called "divisive".</p> <p>"The idea that our existence and counting who we are is a threat to social cohesion is utterly absurd and deeply offensive," she said.</p> <p>Mr Dutton refused to back any changes, saying current questions had "stood us well as a country".</p> <p>It was up to the government to argue for a "woke agenda ... at odds with the vast majority of Australians" if it wanted the questions changed, he said.</p> <p>The Australian Christian Lobby also came out against the new questions, saying the government did not need to know "what people choose to do in their bedrooms" and the queer community was already counted as Australians.</p> <p>Asked how this differed from people who chose to practice their religion behind closed doors, the lobby said "faith is not a private personal practice", CEO Michelle Pearse told AAP.</p> </body>