Dominic Perrotett set to prioritise 'family values' during his tenure

Last weekend, hundreds gathered at Sydney’s Town Hall in support of LGBTIQ rights and by extension, in protest against NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

Bearing signs that read 'no right to discriminate', the group drew attention to proposed legislation embodying what they considered to be the politician’s homophobic agenda.

But how warranted is this fear? And what exactly do Dominic Perrottet’s family values mean for the future of diverse Australian families?

It’s been almost a month since Gladys Berejiklian’s shock resignation and replacement by the then-Treasurer. And what have we learnt about NSWs’ new Premier?

It would appear very little. Perrottet has, for the most part, kept his head down and focused on the state’s recovery from 2021’s delta crisis, sticking to the party line of a vaccination-dependant reopening.

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But we should not ignore Perrottet’s more controversial policies regarding the rights of minorities, which may well rear their head as the Premier’s leadership settles into its rhythm.

Perrottet, in his own words, promises to be NSWs' "family premier". He has previously described the family as “the nucleus of society”. This term recalls the 1950s nuclear family ideal. The fact that Perrottet is one of 12 children and has six children of his own seems to reinforce this presumption, fairly or unfairly.

And his public comments do little to suggest otherwise. In 2020, the future premier was quizzed on his thoughts regarding NSW Treasury’s Economic Strategy, Deputy Secretary Joann Wilkie’s suggestion that employers take steps to make their workplace a safer space for the LGBTIQ community, such as not operating on the assumption that a person is straight and cisgender until proved otherwise.

This evidence-based response to a public policy problem (LGBTQI individuals are far more likely to experience pay gaps and unemployment despite havening statistically higher educational levels) was described as going “way too far". Perrottet predicted thatthis path would result in the apparently unthinkable outcome of “no Father’s Day”.

With this in mind, it’s little wonder that queer rights activists are monitoring Parliament’s consideration of the Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 with some alarm. After all, it’s not hard to imagine that a man unwilling to acknowledge gender fluidity in the workplace would take a similar view of the classroom.

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A passion project of controversial One Nation Leader Mark Latham, the bill’s primary objective is to outlaw all mentions of gender fluidity from schools; 'indoctrination' that apparently undermines the role of parents in their child’s moral development.

As it stands, many (though not all) schools include material on trans issues such as transphobia as part of their sex education syllabus. This will not be allowed if the bill is passed.

Like Perrottet, Latham sanctifies the role of “the family” in society while attacking the range of diverse family structures that actually exist in Australia today. In their view, those families with transgender children, parents, or partners are not really families at all; this is arguably evidence that these politicians are the true social engineers, as they defy biology and redefine the family to conform to conservative ideals.

Dominic Perrottet has hinted at conservative sensibilities for a long time. He disapproves of society’s “obsession with rights to the exclusion of responsibilities". He salutes the role of “Judeo-Christianity in Australia’s ongoing development". And there's the implication that any criticism of our diversity is uncalled for.

In his first speech as Premier, Perrottet declared that “we live in a very diverse society", before qualifying the sentiment with the opinion that “some of the criticism in relation to that diversity has been unfounded”.

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This conservatism is hardly incompatible with so-called “family values.” But what of the growing number of families comprised of same-sex couples, transgender and intersex parents and children, and those who are childless? And women who have had abortions? Do the Premier’s family values really reflect society’s morals?

Perhaps Gladys Berejklian’s endorsement of Perrottet suggest that it does, at least in the Liberal Party. But the Premier’s narrow definition of morality warns of an uneasy future for the nation’s minorities. After all, when someone tells you who they are; believe them.