Bradford Sue: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee Third Reading 
Bradford Sue: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:20056] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 I will take just a quick call in the Committee stage to make a last-minute plea to the Government and other parties to support the Green Party amendment that I have put forward concerning the definition of rape. I have already spoken at length about this earlier today but just to summarise briefly my amendment seeks to make rape an offence that is gender-neutral both in terms of offender and victim and that includes oral and anal penetration and penetration with an object. The United Future amendment tries partially to achieve that but it is limited because it omits any mention of an object and also confuses sexual connection with rape which I do not think is useful. For those reasons the Greens will not be voting for Mr Alexander’s Supplementary Order Paper but I invite him to consider supporting ours which is just that much more comprehensive and clear. 
I am grateful to the Minister for taking a call just before the lunch break to explain why the Government will not support the Green Party position on the definition of rape. Mr Goff said that he had no fundamental opposition to what I am putting forward and I really wonder whether any other members of his caucus do in fact oppose my amendment. I know that when we discussed this earlier in the Law and Order Committee at least some Labour members were present who seemed to have every sympathy for the position I am putting forward including Georgina Beyer who alluded to that fact in her own speech earlier this afternoon. I have never understood why Labour subsequently took a different position but it is still not too late to change. My amendment simply seeks to express Labour’s own avowed intention with the bill—to modernise and render gender-neutral the laws around rape and other sexual offences. I think Mr Goff said that the reason Labour could not and did not support my version of the definition of rape was that there was no consensus on that issue in the select committee. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: No consensus in here. 
SUE BRADFORD 
: Or even in the House? 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Yes. 
SUE BRADFORD 
: Although I am sure the Green Party would be delighted if Parliament including select committees and the Committee of the whole House suddenly ran on a totally consensual basis that certainly has not been my experience of either select committees or this Parliament. It is actually quite strange for this Government to say as the Minister appears to be doing that all members from all parties have to agree on something before the Government can amend a bill. The Minister has been here a lot longer than I have but I have certainly never been on a select committee or in the House when the Government has waited for full agreement on anything. We would certainly have a lot less legislation and it would be a radical change in the way we do politics. 
Mr Goff also said that the reason Labour could not vote for my amendment was that it was incomplete because it did not refer to the use of objects. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I’ve read it—you do. I acknowledge the member does. 
SUE BRADFORD 
: I thank Mr Goff. I think that perhaps the Minister looked at the United Future Supplementary Order Paper rather than mine because it is not mentioned in that Supplementary Order Paper. I am therefore still not able to identify from anything the Minister said any clear reason why Labour can not support my amendment. As I stated earlier I think that this would be an opportunity for parties across the Chamber this afternoon to show maturity and a willingness to grapple with this difficult issue which I know we all find hard to talk about and to take the next step forward. The time has come when we should stop pussyfooting around and using euphemisms like “sexual violation” to cover over what is rape. After all—and this is at the heart of where I am coming from on this matter—I am coming from a victim’s perspective in which there is no reason at all to differentiate between anal vaginal or oral rape rape by penis or an object or violation by a male or a female of a male or a female. The experience is one that only those of us who have been through it can understand but there are many of us and it is time for our voices to be heard.