Former deputy premier Michael Ferguson is sponsoring a parliamentary e-petition, started by Women Speak Tasmania, urging MPs to reject the Greens’ bill to ban conversion practices in Tasmania.
Conversion practices are attempts to change, suppress or eradicate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
They remain legal in Tasmania but have been banned in Victoria, the ACT, NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
The Liberal backbencher shared the petition, which is hosted on the Tasmanian Parliament’s website, in a Facebook post on Saturday morning.
His post was headed “Protect children. Reject the Greens’ extreme new law”.
“This is so important,” Ferguson said.
He urged people to “protect children, trust families and defend the freedom to seek appropriate care and counselling” and asked them to sign and share the petition.
Ferguson said last month he would vote against the bill, describing it as “extreme” and “authoritarian”.
One Nation Tasmania has also promoted the petition, saying Tasmanians “deserve a say” before the bill becomes law.
The petition has attracted more than 1,570 signatures so far.
It asks the House of Assembly to reject the bill and require any future proposal to undergo a public inquiry.
The petition, which says “gender identity ideology is strongly contested”, argues clinicians and parents could face legal sanction for taking a “watchful waiting” approach or discussing sex and gender with young people.
It says abuse and coercion are wrong but that many such practices are already unlawful.
Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Guy Barnett repeated his opposition in a Facebook post yesterday, saying the bill was “fundamentally flawed” and he would not support it.
Barnett had earlier written to Women Speak Tasmania describing a draft of the bill as “amongst the most extreme of its type in Australia”.
Last month, Police Minister Felix Ellis also said he would vote against the bill, confirming Liberal MPs would have a conscience vote.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff, who has said he supports a ban on conversion practices, said last month there was “overreach” and “rough edges” in the bill.
The Greens tabled the bill on September 10 and have said it exempts health services that meet professional standards, statements of religious teaching and parents discussing sexuality and gender with their children.
Under the bill, criminal offences apply only where a conversion practice causes injury and the person was negligent as to whether injury would be caused.
Deputy Greens leader Vica Bayley has said the bill is in line with laws in other states.
“This doesn’t stop ordinary prayer, medical care, counselling or parenting,” he said last month.
A 2022 Tasmanian Law Reform Institute report found conversion practices were still occurring in Tasmania and identified harms including anxiety, depression and suicide. It recommended a ban.
Labor and several crossbenchers have indicated support for the bill, meaning it could pass without government backing.
