A Labor MP has broken ranks with his party and called on the government to reverse its decision to not include LGBTQI topics in the next census.
Backbencher Josh Burns, who represents the Melbourne electorate of Macnamara, said his party should reconsider its choice not to include questions about LGBTQI identities in the 2026 census.
“We should be asking questions to reflect the depth and breadth of the Australian community,” he told ABC on Thursday.
“Everyone really wants to ensure that we are a government that includes people, that lifts people up, that counts people and makes people feel valued.”
Labor ministers said they wanted to avoid a “nasty” political fight when they backtracked on a pledge to count LGBTQI Australians in the next twice-a-decade survey.
Mr Burns noted LGBTQI Australians and other minority groups had been the subject of destructive campaigns in the lead up to political events, such as the marriage equality plebiscite.
“But I also think that in government we can show strength and we can show courage,” he said.
Sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody was disappointed by the government’s decision, saying it would “strengthen the voices of discrimination and division that seek to disrupt the nation’s social cohesion”.
About one in 10 Australians identify as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, the federal health department estimated in 2019.
LGBTQI people face significant health disparities compared to the rest of the population and Dr Cody said better data would lead to more informed policy decisions.
Labor pledged to count the queer community and agreed data relevant to LGBTQI Australians was needed in its 2023 national platform.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics – which runs the census – had previously apologised for not including sexual orientation in the 2021 snapshot and committed to investing and supporting the LGBTQI community “to fully participate” in the next one.
But 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.
Other Australian communities were already counted and adding LGBTQI Australians to the dataset was no different, Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said.
“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,” she said.
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”.
But the government seems unlikely to double back, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers saying the Commonwealth wanted to “avoid some of the nastiness” and was focused on other issues such as cost of living.
Labor MP Graham Perrett said while he had not seen any proposed questions, the opposition leader would politicise the issue.
“Peter Dutton can weaponise anything that bespeaks a modern Australia,” he told AAP.
Mr Dutton refused to back any changes, saying existing questions “stood us well as a country”.
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.
The Australian Christian Lobby also came out against the questions, saying the government did not need to know “what people choose to do in their bedrooms”.
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