Member for Albany, Rebecca Stephens MLA - Her First Real Local Challenge

The title is not quite true. Perhaps her first big challenge was getting elected. She achieved that easily, made easier by a Presidential Style campaign where nearly all the talking was done by visiting ministers & the Premier.

Perhaps it was her first radio interview with ABC South Coast where she said "No comment" several times when asked about "Deregulated Trading Hours". When pressed further as to why no comment she said she'd have to see what the electors wanted.
Oddity here is she had already voted against it not long before running for Parliament as a Councillor on the City of Albany. 
Dilemma there is, did she vote against it as a councillor without knowing what the locals wanted or was she trying to not answer it because she didn't know what Labor thought she should say?
Those are the 2 main choices but most likely its the latter as she went "No Comment" thinking that would end it. Rather naive I think.

No now her first real local challenge after being sworn in is the local cluster bomb that's gone off with a local Albany Church that has a guest speaker/s in a public meeting to discuss their life journey, how they went from being one of the "letters" in LBGTQI+ grouping to walking away from that & to becoming a follower of Jesus.

Now why this is so controversial I'm unsure. I know of a pastor that was as a young man was deeply embedded in the LGBTQI+ world. Then he left it, found Christ & eventually ended up getting married, having kids and became a pastor himself  in Perth. Nothing barbaric here, nothing guilt filled.

Somehow some local people took to ramparts, roused about the intolerance & bigotry with some even suggesting people supporting the guest speakers should lose their jobs. Ironic isn't it. Claiming intolerance & bigotry and then being intolerant & bigoted enough to try & guilt silence people of a different view and threaten their job in the local community.

All because some are claiming the speakers are promoting "Gay Conversion Therapy" and the "barbaric" guilt laden shaming of anyone of a differenet sexual/gender preference. At this point there is no evidence at all that the speakers will be promoting anything that aligns with that therapy or that non hetrosexual people must be cured. None.

I'll wait to see what unfolds, when facts are available but the assumption I tentatively came to after listening to that Church's pastor being interviewed was its about offering an insight into the journey of people who left a lifestyle they were embedded in & leaving it behind for a life of Christ. That is their story and that is their choice. And if it's made them feel their life is improved then who is anyone to target them.

Now Rebecca Stephens MLA has weighed in...and we can only speculate as whether or not she had a minder check her comments before going public. The word is all new MPs had to tender their maiden speech to the Premier's Office for his staff to vet for anything off message. Here's her FB comment.

What Rebecca didn't tell the angry local masses who flocked to her was...

1. There's no evidence of Conversion Therapy being supported, encouraged, defended or promoted by the organsiers nor the speakers at the planned event.
   
   
2. That the Premier back in March 2021 whislt campaigning said that WALabor would look at copying the Victorian Legislation that was passing to ban Gay Conversion Therapy
   
   
3. That the Victorian Act will criminalise a parent who carefully encourages their gender-confused child to embrace their biological sex - JUST LET THAT SINK IN
   
   
4. That Roger Cook as far back as 2018 promised to bring in an Act to outlaw  Gay Conversion Therapy...LET US REPEAT THAT -> BACK IN 2018 (and still hasn't). THAT was on his & the Premier's agenda 4+ years ago but still hasn't happened. Irony is, just prior to the recent election day, whilst standing next to Rebecca Stephens the Premier said time after time that electoral reform was not on his agenda. He wins power & thats the first thing he begins to enact. So are things he says are on his agenda not on the agenda & things he says aren't on his agenda actually definitely on the agenda. Kinda looks that way.
   
   
5. The Malachi Law that came into being after the unnecessary death of a young boy was on the Cook/McGiwan agenda back in 2018, still hasn't been enacted and the wider view is if it had been in place it probably would have prevented the unnecessary death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath.
   
   
6. That the Minister for Women's Interests in WA, Simone McGurk MLA has already stated WALabor's goal post settings. Women are those people born or choosing to live as women. So that means now that Perth Labor is absolutely fine with anyone born a man but now "living as a woman" playing AFLW or entering the ring of the Women's MMA match that Labor also supports.
   
   
7. As a result...Women's sport is dead & cancel culture is alive. 

There's 7 things Rebecca didn't tell you that though. Not sure why. She either didn't know or isn't in control of saying anything without approval.

Actually still waiting to see where she sits on electoral reform but my guess is where she's told by Alannah and/or the Cabinet.

But I should be fair and see if she tells you these 7 things. See if she opposes electoral reform that will reduce the number of Regional MPs. She what she says are meeting with the local Albany PRIDE group. She is she visits the Pastor & speaks to him as well. See is she attends the event.

Yes I wrote her a letter. Think she missed the opportunity to show leadership & statesmanship, she missed the opportunity to calm people down, get facts and make a stand to prevent cancel culture.

"We'll see"
(EDIT NOTE - No reply from Rebecca Stephens)