{"id":120804,"date":"2024-09-05T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T23:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=120804"},"modified":"2024-09-05T06:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:18:51","slug":"backflip-on-lgbtqia-census-question-after-public-backlash-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=120804","title":{"rendered":"Backflip on LGBTQIA+ census question after public backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anthony Albanese, the first prime minister to march in a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, has backflipped on a decision to exclude questions about gender and sexuality from the 2026 census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After several Labor MPs broke ranks on the issue, Mr Albanese told the ABC on Friday that a question would be included provided Australian Bureau of Statistics \u201ctesting goes OK\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and they\u2019re going to test for a new question,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne question about sexuality, sexual preference. They\u2019ll be testing, making sure as well that people will have the option of not answering it (if they) prefer not to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Albanese, with fiancee Jodie Haydon and NSW Premier Chris Minns, was the first prime minister to take part in the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney in 2023. Picture: NewsWire \/ Jeremy Piper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Albanese said a draft question had been developed this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Labor had promised to include LGBTQIA+ Australians in the census, which is why revelations the Albanese government would not caused a stir.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Asked why he was backflipping on the backflip, Mr Albanese played down the political pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve been asked about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat there isn\u2019t going to be is holus-bolus massive changes to the census because we think that it\u2019s been pretty effective in the past, and for a range of issues the census isn\u2019t the right vehicle to engage with the community across a whole range of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the census was \u201cnot the be all and end all\u201d, adding that the government collected data \u201cin a range of ways\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed question\u2019s re-inclusion was simply part of a \u201cmodernising\u201d process, according to M Albanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has played down the political pressure amid his government\u2019s backflipping on the census backflip. Picture: NewsWire \/ Martin Ollman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least six Labor politicians had criticised the decision to not count LGBTQ Australians in the next census, including Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alicia Payne, Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Jerome Laxale joined Josh Burns and Peter Khalil in calling for the government to reverse its call to not include new sexuality questions in the census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who on Thursday had said the question reflected a \u201cwoke agenda\u201d, on Friday said he was prepared to discuss the issue with the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can have a sensible way forward, but the prime minister at the moment I think is demonstrating he that has lost control of the agenda,\u201d Mr Dutton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than a year after he was the first PM to march in the gay and lesbian mardi gras, Anthony Albanese has backflipped on a decision that angered the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":120805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,999],"tags":[13138,13030],"class_list":["post-120804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-australia-politics","tag-census","tag-lqbti"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t