Unequal opportunities

The irony of an equal opportunity commission board member forced to resign for expressing a personal opinion should not be lost in the general apathy shrouding Australian public affairs this year. It was an important moment for us all, perhaps a defining one.

Professor Kuruvilla George, a  Victorian Equal Opportunity  and Human Rights Commission board member who signed a submission opposing gay marriage on health grounds to the Australian Senate inquiry into marriage equality, quit the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission after The Australian Medical Association (AMA)  expressed the view that "doctors must be mindful of putting their opinions forward because they hold influential positions in society".

"That's part of the reason why it's a bit disturbing that these opinions have been proffered. It's certainly not the opinion of the AMA body of doctors",  AMA president Steve Hambleton told Yahoo 7.

Gay marriage is a contentious issue, dividing Australians and sparking a hotly contested debate. But like the ghastly argument over weather forecasts that raged last year, the debate has collapsed into the kind of name calling and partisan finger pointing more suited to a drunken night out than it is to Australian public affairs.

Australians must have the right to freely express their opinions in the Parliament, no matter what.

If we are to have a truly democratic society people should be allowed contrary, even minority, opinions, and the right to express them as a matter of course, especially in the People's House. An inquiry by the Australian Senate should quite properly consider a range of views, not merely the ones which are popular or non-controversial.

One way to look at these sad events is that an independent minded public spirited individual with deeply held religious beliefs has been bullied from his job for speaking his mind and sticking up for his side. That is intolerable in a free and open society. And what's next? Will it be compulsory to barrack for the Footscray Bulldogs because the Prime Minister does? Will Collingwood supporters lose their jobs for barracking loud and hard for their side, next time the Maggies and Dogs face off?

When the next debate comes around it will be legitimate to wonder out loud whether the debate is as comprehensive as it should have been, given that people will think twice about expressing views that might  cost them their job. And when the Australian Senate next considers a matter of importance it will be legitimate to ask whether all views were canvassed, and to question therefore the legitimacy of any legislation arising from a stifled debate. That seems a slippery slope to the brink of anarchy, or worse.

Do we really want to be the generation that consigns the fair go to history's dustbin? Democracy and the free speech it relies upon might not be perfect. But it is the least imperfect option we have.  We shouldn't be so quick to throw it away.