The following questions were asked of the parties. Please find their answers in the links below.

Sanctity of Life

  1. Despite the majority of Queenslanders being opposed to late term abortion, the 2018 Termination of Pregnancy bill allows abortion at all stages of pregnancy, for physical, psychological, or social circumstances. There is no consideration for the viability of the baby, or for pain management; there are no protections for women experiencing coercion, and no counselling provision. Will your party agree to conduct a review of the 2018 Termination of Pregnancy bill regarding the following issues not currently addressed in the legislation –
    1. Making sex-selection abortions illegal
    2. Providing medical assistance to any foetus born alive following an abortion
    3. Making independent counselling mandatory, including screening for coercion
  2. Women experiencing unplanned pregnancies face serious challenges. Would your party support the funding of organisations that provide holistic non-judgmental support to women to assist them to keep their child if they so desired?
  3. Key findings from the Palliative Care Services review make it clear that Queenslanders do not have adequate access to palliative care, particularly in rural areas. Despite this fact, the Law Reform Commission is currently considering how euthanasia legislation can be introduced in Queensland. Will your party commit to ensuring that every Queenslander has access to adequate palliative care before euthanasia legislation can be introduced?
  4. Queensland has the second highest rate of suicide in Australia and the numbers continue to rise. It is the number one cause of death for Queenslanders aged 15-44. Every suicide causes a deeply painful toll on individuals, families and communities. Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women. Will your party facilitate the conducting of a systemic review of suicides of vulnerable groups such as young people known to child safety services and men, with a focus on improving pre-emptive responses to vulnerable people? Will your party commit to work with non-government organisations to develop a shared statewide framework for collaborative support of Queensland’s most vulnerable people?

Sexualisation of Society

  1. Advertising standards are currently supervised under a system of self-regulation administered by the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) which relies on the voluntary compliance of advertisers. While it sounds admirable on paper, in practice this system of self-regulation fails to compel compliance from advertisers, whose commercial interests are sometimes thought to be better served through displaying sexual imagery. There are no penalties, no fines, no consequences for advertisers who consistently flout community standards. Will your party commit to introduce legislation to penalise advertisers who repeatedly breach the code?
  2. Children are increasingly being exposed to pornography on the internet at a younger age. This is associated with a range of harms to their health, education, relationships, and wellbeing. Will your party commit to advocating for the adoption of online age verification to help make Australia the safest place in the world to raise children?
  3. Child abuse and exploitation causes lifelong mental and physical harm to the victim with a corresponding national cost of over $9 billion per year. The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) receives approximately 18,000 reports of child sexual exploitation per year, with each report potentially containing hundreds or even thousands of explicit videos and images. Will your party commit to working with the federal government to establish a national sex offender register to deter offending, prevent reoffending and raise public awareness of the prevalent risks posed by child sexual abuse and exploitation in our community?

Wellbeing of children

  1. The effect of Queensland’s conversion therapy bill is that respected medical practitioners, health service providers and counsellors involved in treating, counselling, caring for and advising on matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity, are not permitted to treat a child in any way other than to affirm the child’s wish to transition gender, under threat of criminal sanction. This is despite the fact that, without medical intervention, over 90% of all children who are confused about their gender will embrace their natal sex through puberty. Will your party commit to review this legislation to return the right to health providers to adopt a ‘watch and wait’ approach for children who are confused about their gender?
  2. There are currently over 10,000 children in foster care in Queensland. The most recent local adoption figures reveal less than 10 adoptions in a year. What is your party’s policy with regard to foster care? Will your party commit to reform the Queensland foster care system and adoption procedures to provide much-needed permanency and stability for children in foster care?

Education

  1. In October last year it was made compulsory for all schools to include ‘Respectful Relationships’ teaching in their curriculum. Included in the resources are controversial links to gender fluid ideology websites which encourage children to believe their gender is on a spectrum and that they can choose to change their gender. Could you please state what position your party has on whether gender theory should be taught in schools?
  2. Does your party support the continuance of voluntary Religious Instruction classes in State Schools?
  3. Chaplaincy is a unique service that has been proved to be of great value to students, staff and parents. Chaplains offer care, they help build student’s social skills, encourage responsible behaviour, and contribute to the wellbeing of Queensland school communities. Will your party continue to support the current chaplaincy program in schools?

Prostitution

  1. Women who want to leave prostitution often struggle to do so, and are forced by circumstance to return to it again and again, against their wishes. Will you support the establishment of support and exit services for women seeking to exit prostitution?
  2. A University of Queensland report found that the legalisation of brothels in Queensland has failed to curb the growth of prostitution, with up to 90% of our State’s prostitution industry remaining unregulated and illegal. Sex trafficking continues to be a problem. Internationally, policies discouraging demand for sexual services are proving to be the most effective means to limit the size of, and the harms resulting from, the prostitution industry. The policy approach known as the “Nordic model” comprises three essential elements: buyingsexual services becomes a criminal offence; selling sexual services is decriminalized; funding and support is provided for exit strategies to assist prostituted persons to exit the industry. Will your party commit to a meaningful examination of this successful policy approach to prostitution with a view to implementing a similar approach in Queensland?