Legislative Council, Thursday 11 December 2025
Ms FORREST (Murchison) – Mr President, I support this legislation. I thank the member for Hobart for the comments she made and particularly going through quite extensively and I might have some more to add on the matter of the court’s consideration of behaviours immediately before and immediately after committing an offence.
We know that these things rarely happen in isolation. They usually fall on the back of, as the member for Hobart pointed out, a pattern of behaviour. Not just necessarily toward one individual – it can be toward a group of individuals or people of a certain race, gender, sexual identity, whatever. It’s very harmful and damaging.
The member for Hobart did allude to the recent debate we’ve had in this place and how it did bring out some of the worst of people. It did bring out some of the best of people too, I might add. I’ve had some of the most beautiful messages and emails and phone calls and all sorts of stuff from people who don’t agree with my position but respected how I got there.
I’m lucky to have had that, but so many people don’t have those supports or the protections in place. They’re vulnerable, they’re isolated, they’re culturally different from the majority of us, perhaps, and they, sadly, have suffered far too much vilification, inappropriate behaviour and hatred toward them. On a slightly different area, it will be interesting to see what the difference the social media ban for under 16 year olds has for young people from various minority groups with certain attributes that may make them more subject to these terrible behaviours: behaviours which can have lifelong impacts. I am pleased too, to see the government bring forward this legislation, I think it’s really positive and it’s needed, sadly and too many people have been harmed along the way.
I do want to pick up on the point the member for Hobart made that by the time we get to the sentencing, the crimes have been committed; the harm has been done; the harm is lasting, sometimes physically and or psychologically, but it’s harm nonetheless. The harm can be lifelong and recovery very slow, particularly if during the course of the trial it becomes what else this person had done that probably should have been stopped before it got to this particular case. We do need to focus much more on prevention and that comes down to respectful behaviours. We need to be modelling that as leaders in our community, but also promoting gender equality, promoting equality for all, all of the things we know that make a difference to people and will reduce the risk of these sorts of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviours.
I don’t think we’re seeing it quite as much in Tasmania at this stage and hopefully we won’t, but sadly we see the rise of neo-Nazis in Victoria and New South Wales, and it is truly horrible. I know that the governments in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and all of them really, but ours as well will need to be very alert to this. It’s insidious; it’s frightening; it’s misogynistic; it’s racist; it’s xenophobic; it’s sexist; it’s ableist; it’s homophobic; and any other thing I can think of; it’s disgusting and it’s building a life of its own.
Every time we walk past any of that behaviour, we risk condoning it; acknowledging that it can be very hard to actually take effective bystander action when you confronted with such aggression and toxic power that emanates from these people. They’ve become so emboldened, now they’re uncovering their faces: how brave of them. It is a real threat, not just to some of the marginalised groups, but to all of us, in fact, all of us who aren’t alpha white males, to be fair, and that’s straight white males, I might say.
Ms O’Connor – Through you, Mr President, did you say alpha? Because quite a few of these men are very beta.
Ms FORREST – A what, sorry?
Ms O’Connor – Did you say alpha white males?
Ms FORREST – Yes.
Ms O’Connor – I think quite a few of them are very beta.
Ms FORREST – Oh, well, maybe they are too; but that’s to say that that’s the cohort. You now see these so-called ‘traditional wives’ who are hanging around and becoming influencers because of their tradwife role they’re taking on. It’s really disturbing from the progress we thought we’d made to see some of this being eroded. That’s for all of us, but even more so for the people who are being victimised for various other attributes, vilified, abused, having prejudice and hatred and directed at them.
I hope this legislation has the effect it’s intending, but really what we do need to be focusing on is prevention and being willing to call out the behaviours when we see it, where it’s safe to do so – acknowledging it’s not always safe – and doing our best and our bit to be part of the solution. I do support the legislation. I also hope the Leader has some more information about this; again, I come back to this point, maybe whether I speak on the suspension of Standing Orders again or not – but why we are dealing with this on the last day of parliament, when the member for Launceston had to question whether she actually spoke in September, that’s how long so why are we here on the last day with something as important as this, having to consider suspension of standing or to see it law for Christmas potentially? It’s inexcusable by the government to do this. They make the decisions about what comes on when. I will have to have a little rant again. I suspect I will lose that one – I mean, I will – but it’s a matter of process and unless we keep standing up to the government and saying this is not the way you should do it. Another solution is having a quorum call tomorrow.