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Australia's ruling party supports gay marriage, but no law change
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2011, Saturday
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AUSTRALIA'S ruling Labor Party voted to support gay marriage today but ensured that there would be no immediate changes to marriage laws after warnings the move would see the party thrown out of office.
After a passionate debate at the party's national conference, Finance Minister Penny Wong, who is in a same-sex relationship, successfully changed the party's policy to end discrimination against gay marriage.
But the party also backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's position, that the government would not legalize gay marriage and that lawmakers would be free to vote any way they like on the issue, effectively killing off any chance of a law change in the near future.
"Never doubt how persistent the campaign for equality is," Wong told reporters, adding the ruling party's decision was a milestone for equal rights.
Same sex marriage is legal in 10 countries and in several states in the United States, including New York. But it remains illegal in Australia, although same sex partners have equal rights to heterosexual couples under other areas of the law.
Singer Elton John, on a visit to Sydney on Wednesday, called for the government to legalise gay marriage, but 19 church leaders, including Australia's Catholic Cardinal George Pell, had urged the government to oppose any change.
Gillard went into the 2010 election promising no change to marriage laws, which currently state a marriage must be between and man and a woman. Gillard won the election by forming a minority government with a one seat majority, supported by one Green and three independents.
Gillard strengthened her hold on power by gaining an effective three seat majority in parliament last month, when an opposition lawmaker defected to become speaker. But the Labor Party is still well behind in the polls and likely to lose the next election, due in late 2013.
Today's decision by the Labor Party conference is a win for gay rights advocates, who now believe gay marriage reform is inevitable.
"The momentum towards achieving marriage equality is unstoppable," said Alex Greenwich from the Australian Marriage Equality network.
But the leader of Australia's biggest trade union, Joe DeBruin, told the conference any move to legalize gay marriage would cost the government any chance of winning the next election.
DeBruin handed the conference a petition with more than 100,000 signatures of people opposed to gay marriage, and said Labor could lose a dozen or more seats at the next election if the party changed marriage laws.
DeBruin said marriage laws should state that marriage must continue to be between a man and woman.
"It has always been that way, since the dawn of humanity," DeBruin said to jeers and laughs from the conference delegates.
After a passionate debate at the party's national conference, Finance Minister Penny Wong, who is in a same-sex relationship, successfully changed the party's policy to end discrimination against gay marriage.
But the party also backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's position, that the government would not legalize gay marriage and that lawmakers would be free to vote any way they like on the issue, effectively killing off any chance of a law change in the near future.
"Never doubt how persistent the campaign for equality is," Wong told reporters, adding the ruling party's decision was a milestone for equal rights.
Same sex marriage is legal in 10 countries and in several states in the United States, including New York. But it remains illegal in Australia, although same sex partners have equal rights to heterosexual couples under other areas of the law.
Singer Elton John, on a visit to Sydney on Wednesday, called for the government to legalise gay marriage, but 19 church leaders, including Australia's Catholic Cardinal George Pell, had urged the government to oppose any change.
Gillard went into the 2010 election promising no change to marriage laws, which currently state a marriage must be between and man and a woman. Gillard won the election by forming a minority government with a one seat majority, supported by one Green and three independents.
Gillard strengthened her hold on power by gaining an effective three seat majority in parliament last month, when an opposition lawmaker defected to become speaker. But the Labor Party is still well behind in the polls and likely to lose the next election, due in late 2013.
Today's decision by the Labor Party conference is a win for gay rights advocates, who now believe gay marriage reform is inevitable.
"The momentum towards achieving marriage equality is unstoppable," said Alex Greenwich from the Australian Marriage Equality network.
But the leader of Australia's biggest trade union, Joe DeBruin, told the conference any move to legalize gay marriage would cost the government any chance of winning the next election.
DeBruin handed the conference a petition with more than 100,000 signatures of people opposed to gay marriage, and said Labor could lose a dozen or more seats at the next election if the party changed marriage laws.
DeBruin said marriage laws should state that marriage must continue to be between a man and woman.
"It has always been that way, since the dawn of humanity," DeBruin said to jeers and laughs from the conference delegates.
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