Adoption Amendment (Same Sex) Bill 2010
In July 2009, a Parliamentary Inquiry conducted by the NSW Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended that same-sex couples be enabled to adopt children. There was an enormous outcry from the public in response, with many thousands of signed petitions being received from citizens across New South Wales beseeching the government not to permit such a thing, as children have the fundamental right to be raised by a mother and a father, biological or adoptive. The issue will not go away, however. I will adamantly oppose the Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2010 that was recently proposed by Clover Moore MP in the Lower House and which will come up for debate when Parliament resumes sitting.
I strongly believe that allowing homosexual couples to adopt children in NSW is, in every way, contrary to the best interest of the children. This legislation caters to a vocal minority. Is our legislation really going to be hijacked by a subculture? The very moral and social worldview on which the Bill is based is clearly opposed by those thousands who sent in their signatures to be presented to Parliament. We are right to be appalled that the Bill frames the obtaining of children as a service like any other offered by the government for which there should be equal access: children are not a commodity and there is no equal right to have access to them. To say otherwise is simply nonsense.
The Family First Party and I affirm, along with other pro-family organisations, that every child has a right to a mother and a father, and that all children have the right and legitimate expectation to have a mother and a father raise them. The law in this state needs to recognise and support this fundamental truth: that a mother and a father in a loving, committed relationship, provide the best environment for the nurturing of young human life. But also, very crucially, this Bill also makes no provision whatsoever for faith-based agency exemption, which has always been allowed before in morally repugnant legislation. That may mean the end of the most effective adoption agencies in the state, which would be a tragedy.
This Bill must be vehemently opposed for the sake of the children. I encourage all concerned readers to contact their local members to vote against this Bill. If you have not yet signed and returned the petition please do so now!