The committee for Justice and Attorney General brought a bill to parliament today, which made many, including the Honorable Deputy Speaker David Gibson, member for Gympie and Father of Youth Member for Gympie, go bright red. The bill titled "Social Reform and Development Youth Bill" called for many changes to the rights of young people on some very big decisions.
The topics at hand included the age of consent for sexual inter-course, same sex couple and single parent adoption and surrogacy laws and body image (tattoos, piercings and cosmetic surgery) regulations. The bill called for the age of consensual sex under the age of 18 to be lowered to 14 years old, as long as there is no greater difference than 2 years between the consenting youth. This controversial issue made for a intense debate filled with innuendo. A division was called to amend this clause and in fact raise the age of consent to 18, 2 years beyond the current age and a result of 32 for and 30 against saw it fall.
The bill also called for same sex and single persons to be allowed to adopt, and engage in the process of surrogacy. Debate surrounding this was for some members close to heart, as members of single parent families and/or being homosexual. The usual arguments were shared, resulting as usual in the conclusion that every case is different.
While the first two propositions of the bill widened the scope of rights for youths their final reform restricts the rights to get tattoos, piercings and cosmetic surgery. Most notably the age of a youth wanting a cultural tattoo, such as those of a Maori culture, to be raised to 18.
The bill, with the exception of the amendment was passed as is.
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