The Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie announced
last week to the parliament a debate on the changes to the Civil Partnership
laws that Queensland would be changing its surrogacy laws along the lines of
those previously proposed by then Opposition Justice spokesman now Health
Minister Lawrence Springborg. The
Attorney stated:
“The second issue is
surrogacy. In this debate and in the correspondence that the government received
with regard to this debate there was much talk about mixing these issues with
surrogacy. I can also advise the House tonight that the government will be
changing the surrogacy laws in the future. We will be introducing amendments
similar to those introduced by the honourable member for Southern Downs when he
was the shadow minister. We will be repealing the provisions in the Surrogacy
Act that deal with same-sex couples, de factos of less than two years and
singles. That was a clear commitment given many years ago when that original
debate took place. The government will proceed to amend the Surrogacy Act.”
So that it is
clear, what Mr Springborg proposed, aside from being in breach of Australia’s
fundamental rights obligations including the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, and aside from being apparently in conflict with (and therefore
invalid) so far as it is in conflict with the Federal Sex Discrimination Act,
is intended to criminalise same sex couples, singles and those living in
heterosexual de facto relationships of under two years who seek to pursue
surrogacy. Mr Springborg’s Bill provided
that only those people who have entered into an eligible surrogacy arrangement
could proceed and that those who entered into a surrogacy arrangement that
wasn’t an eligible surrogacy arrangement committed an offence punishable by up
to 3 years imprisonment. Eligibility was
defined as the intended parents either being married or in a heterosexual de
facto relationship of not less than 2 years.
If the changes become
law, then the likely outcome is that some couples will continue to defy the law
and undertake traditional surrogacy irrespective of the changes and others will
simply move interstate where there are not discriminatory laws.
It is not known
whether those who have undertaken surrogacy but don’t fit the anticipated
guidelines as to whether they will now be punished or whether their children
will still be eligible for parentage orders.
Tonight I will be
speaking at a forum at 6.30pm at The Sportsman’s Hotel, Leichardt Street,
Spring Hill about this very issue.
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