Lynn MacLaren, The Greens MLC for Southern Metro is known to many in the queer community for her introduction of same sex marriage legislation in the Western Parliament and for being The Green’s spokesperson on sexuality and mental health, among many other issues.
As state based marriage legislation is put forward in other states, Lynn discusses the status of similar legislation in Western Australia, what drew her into the world of politics and what she hopes to achieve as a member of the parliament.
“It was a gradual thing,” said MacLaren of her interest in politics, “I was involved in student politics, from primary school, class president, that kind of thing, in High School.
“When I came to Australia I didn’t engage in politics other than the occasional rally or protest, largely for women’s rights, things like ‘International Women’s Day’ and ‘Reclaim the Night’, the first time we had ‘International Lesbian Day’ that brought me out to march, but I didn’t see a place for me in Australian politics,” said MacLaren.
Originally from Colorado, MacLaren first came to Western Australia as an exchange student in the late 1970’s. A few years later she made the permanent move to Australia and after a few years became an Australian citizen.
“I became a citizen because there was very conservative politics in Australia at the time that I was feeling upset by and I wanted to vote,” MacLaren said, “With Howard’s second election I needed to be a citizen and get my vote and be a more active player and have an active role.
“Although that made me more politically active, I didn’t consider getting into politics. I probably only considered getting into politics after I was already working for a member of parliament and I saw that there was potential to do it. So I was becoming more involved in the anti live exports movement, learning the political system and engaging in capacity building for animal rights activists and building the skills.”
MacLaren learned the ropes of political life as a staffer for Jim Scott MLC. When Scott decided to retire from his seat and take a run at the lower house MacLaren was drafted in as his replacement. Her first stint in office though was short lived at the next election MacLaren was unable to hold on to the seat, and in a double blow to the party Scott also failed in his bid for the lower house.
“I think it’s really been helpful for me to develop a perspective,” MacLaren said of her time out of the parliament, “I was really only in a short time the first time because Jim Scott retired, and we didn’t win at the election, he ran for the lower house for the seat of Fremantle and I ran for the upper house, and neither one of us got it.”
In the years leading up to the next election MacLaren went to work as a senior policy officer at the Western Australian Council of Social Services, an experience which she credits as a valuable time in her career development.
“I was able to develop a much better perspective and a much better understanding of social services. I put my expertise towards poverty policies and network building in the service sector. I found I was able to contribute outside The Greens to an important part of society. It was a valuable time for me.”
MacLaren has since been elected back into the state parliament twice and is now a politician introducing a number of pieces of legislation across a range of different areas.
MacLaren said when it came to moving forward with marriage equality legislation Western Australia has a lot to gain from waiting and seeing what happens in other states, with the ACT legislation heading towards a High Court challenge from the federal government and legislation being suggested in Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia.
“The best change of success of any bill is if it’s supported by cross party support, and I’m still open to developing that,” said MacLaren.
“I think the best chance of a bill passing in WA is there’s a moral weighting because the other states have already passed it, right now they have an excuse, they can say it’s a federal issue.”
“It’s not going to be easy to pass this legislation in the Western Australian parliament,” MacLaren said, “the Liberal and the National party have the numbers in both houses, we would need to have some of them on their side.”
Although Premier Colin Barnett has said he would allow Liberal members to have a conscience vote on the issue, MacLaren highlights that is only helpful if members know that this is an important issue in their electorates.
“It only works if MPs have some incentive to support the bill, they have to know that it matters to people in their electorate. I’m not convinced that MP’s that are currently in the Liberal party realise how important it is to their electorates.”
MacLaren highlights that many of the state parliaments where legislation is being put forward are coming up for elections soon. Here in Western Australia we’re at a different part of the political cycle. MacLaren notes that you really only get once chance to put forward the legislation during a parliamentary term.
“We’re at the end of our first year of a four year term, the time is not right now, especially if it doesn’t have that leadership from the conservative side. We need members of the gay and lesbian community and their families in Liberal electorates to say to their MPs that this does matter, and we want it to go forward. We have time to do that,” MacLaren said.
MacLaren describes the responsibility of being an elected representative as a privilege.
“Being in a career that aligns with your passion for change and your belief in social justice and all the things that drive me, it’s a privilege, I don’t find it difficult.
“My political career is about making the world a better place, and that’s for everyone. I’m constantly aware of trying to make everything fairer for everybody. There are so many fundamental things that we have change like caring for our environment, the planet that we depend on, I find that heartbreaking. We should be caring for each other, so we see that with refugees and asylum seekers and people of colour and aboriginal Australians that we are all the same.
Find out more about Lynn MacLaren at www.lynnmaclaren.org.au
Graeme Watson
