20 June 2019: Australian Conservatives Party Deregisters

After just over two years, the Australian Conservatives party deregisters, citing a disappointing lack of support. 

The party’s founder, hardline conservative Cory Bernardi, admits that Scott Morrison’s Christian credentials made it difficult to justify the existence of a separate conservative party, as the Coalition was now in many ways representing the values of what had been the Australian Conservatives party. 

The death of the Australian Conservatives also marks the end of the party in the Victorian Parliament. The party’s deregistration is a blow to the anti-sex work movement, which had successfully delivered one of their own into the Victorian Upper House under the Australian Conservatives brand. 

The  demise of the Australian Conservatives is another development helping to further position Victoria on the path to sex work decriminalisation

18 May 2019: Coalition Shock Win in Federal Election

The Coalition is re-elected at the federal level, shocking many commentators. The win gives conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison the confidence to pursue aspects of his conservative agenda. 

Scott Morrison’s victory partly comes about by his ability to attract conservative voters away from a plethora of minor conservative parties, most notably the Australian Conservatives party. 

April 2019: Sex Work Radio Launches in Melbourne

A group of three vivacious Melbourne sex workers team up to launch “Behind Closed Doors”, a weekly radio show about sex work on community radio station 3CR. The hosts proudly represent the gender and cultural diversity in Melbourne’s sex work scene. 

https://www.3cr.org.au/behindcloseddoors

Kitty Galore, Dean Lim, and Sassy Sin know the show will be about sex work, but are unsure whether to focus on policy and politics, or the personal stories of individual sex workers. 

One thing is certain. The hosts long term goal is to one day convince Fiona Patten to go on their show. Fingers crossed. 

March 2019: Northern Territory Releases Discussion Paper

The Northern Territory government publishes a Discussion Paper “Reforming Regulation of the Sex Industry in the Northern Territory”. This marks a significant development in the Northern Territory’s march to decriminalise sex work. It also indicates the Territory is years ahead of Victoria on the issue of sex worker’s rights. This is significant because the progressive state of Victoria often considers itself ‘ahead’ of the Northern Territory on matters of social reform. 

26 November 2018: Government Offers Fiona Patten a Job

With election results still being finalised, it becomes clear Fiona Patten may not win back her seat and that the result will be close. The Victorian Premier publicly offers her a job in his government, with Fiona Patten indicating she would consider his offer. 

The Premier’s offer is a reflection of Fiona Patten’s proven ability to work closely with Labor in the previous term of parliament, gaining the personal trust and respect of the Premier.

24 November 2018: Victorian Election Result

Daniel Andrews Danslide Victorian Premier Election Win

Labor’s Landslide

The left leaning Victorian Labor Party wins the 2018 Victorian election by a landslide, allowing it to govern for a further four years. It holds a significant majority in the Lower House and will be able to pass legislation in the Upper House with the support of the diverse and unusually large crossbench. On claiming victory, the premier Daniel Andrews proclaims Victoria “the most progressive state in the nation”, setting high expectations from sex workers and other voters in favour of progressive social reform. 

The Crucial Seat of Albert Park

In the Lower House seat of Albert Park, the Reason Party’s sex industry lobbyist candidate loses to Labor’s Martin Foley. Albert Park is significant because it has the largest number of licensed brothels, the largest number of street-based sex workers, and a very high concentration of private sex workers, including gay male sex workers

Martin Foley is a longterm supporter of sex workers’ rights, having helped allocate funding to government funded sex workers program, RhED

The Coalition Reassess

The Coalition promptly replaces its leader and enters a period of self reflection after its “tough on law and order” campaign appears to have failed to inspire voters. 

The Greens

After running an anti-sex work activist in the seat of Richmond, the Greens lose the seat of Richmond to Labor’s Richard Wynne, a supporter of sex worker rights dating back decades to his time working on the Attorney General’s Street Prostitution Advisory Group. 

The Crossbench

11 of the 40 Upper House seats are held by a disparate crossbench. Former sex worker Fiona Patten is returned to power. Two libertarians who happen to support sex workers enter parliament. A number of other progressive crossbencher MP’s win seats, creating the conditions for Labor to potentially obtain the support it needs to pass socially progressive legislation through the Upper House

Anti Sex Worker MP

Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins loses in the Lower House seat of Werribee under the recently formed Australian Conservatives party. Dr Carling-Jenkins, a committed Catholic, is a critic of the sex industry and endorses the Nordic Model of sex work laws, which seek to eliminate the sex industry entirely. 

Three months earlier, conservative Scott Morrison’s ascendency to the Prime Ministership transferred support from a plethora of minor conservative parties back to the Coalition. The Australian Conservatives were one of these minor parties that began to lose support.

The election result sets the stage for Labor to be in a position to deliver on sex work decriminalisation in the upcoming term of parliament. Labor has a mandate to continue to implement its socially progressive policies, has a majority in the Lower House, and a crossbench  open to supporting sex worker rights issues.  Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins and Kathleen Maltzahn, the two anti sex work candidates, are defeated. 

October 2018: We Launch Our Website

After talking and planning for months, we finally launch our website before the November 24 state election. This marks the beginning of a new sex work law reform group, and our website lays out the issues as we see it. Recognising that sex work is inherently political, we rank each political party based on their policies on sex work, providing voters with additional information during the election campaign. 

October 2018: Victorian Election Campaign 2018

Labor’s Campaign

Labor campaigns in the looming 2018 Victorian election, making a number of election promises, but none relate to sex work. Labor hopes to be returned for a further four year term. Labor barely mentions sex work in the campaign, instead focusses on more traditional mainstream issues likely to win votes. 

The Greens

Despite adopting a policy of supporting sex work decriminalisation, the Greens preselect a high profile anti-sex work activist to contest the seat of Richmond. The Greens candidate faces numerous noisy protests from sex worker activists. 

The Reason Party (formerly The Australian Sex Party)

The most prominent member of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten, is not the only candidate representing The Reason Party. The party runs Jarryd Bartle, a media savvy sex industry lobbyist and former lawyer, to contest the seat of Albert Park. Mr Bartle frequently engages with the media, raising the issue of sex workers’ rights. 

The Australian Conservatives

The newly formed socially conservative party run an anti-sex work candidate in the Lower House seat of Werribee.

 

24 August 2018: Scott Morrison Becomes Prime Minister

In the Australian Federal Parliament, conservative MP Scott Morrison wins a leadership spill to become Prime Minister of Australia. A committed Evangelical Christian and conservative, Mr Morrison replaces the more centrist former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, known for espousing small ‘l’ liberal values. 

Scott Morrison’s surprise ascendancy to Prime Minister marks a change in direction for the Coalition in Canberra. It signifies the victory of the socially conservative wing of the federal Coalition.